A Few Thoughts

I have really enjoyed writing and keeping this blog. I want to thank all loyal readers. But even if nobody read this blog, I would still write and update the blog. It is so much fun.

A few things I want to comment on.

I rarely if ever get or care about the side dishes. Most of the times I don't even eat the side dish, a taste or two at most is all I eat. I go to restaurants for the main deal, BBQ ribs, fried chicken, whatever. Of course I will mention if the sides are good. But really if the sides were terrible and the ribs or chicken were great, I would go back to that restaurant and order just the ribs and chicken.

Another thing that has come to my attention. How do I handle bad service at a restaurant? Do I just sit there and take it and then write about it on my blog? Or do I call it to their attention. Basically it depends on the situation. I don't make a big deal, at the time, if a hostess doesn't greeet me. But then I will mention it on my blog. I've worked in retail before and the #1 rule was always greet the customers. Just a simple HI, I will be right with you, is more than enough.

But if the bad service is affecting my meal, then I will say something.

I have also made a point to mention to servers that it is rude to ask, "Do you need change?" I tell them the better phrase is "Thank you, I will be right back with your change." That way I'm reminded if I do need change and forget to tell the server.

My plans for 2009 include doing more reviews in the Inland Empire area. I don't get out to that area much but I need to make an effort to go to more restaurants in that area.

You can always email me any suggestions at thenewdiner@gmail.com

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken- Compton

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken
2600 E Alondra Blvd
Compton
310-638-7871

I have known about the Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken in Culver City for a long time. I just don't get to that area much. But when I heard that they have another location in Compton, off the 710 freeway, I made a special trip to finally try this fried chicken.

I ordered two breast pieces, $4.87. The chicken was cooked within the past ten minutes because the inside was still steaming hot. The skin was crispy. It reminded me of Golden Bird Now some people have compared this to Pioneer Chicken but I I think it is closer to Golden Bird, but this is much better than Golden Bird. The meat was juicy, tender and flavorful. A very good chicken.

Service was pretty good. They actually greet you but oh well. They were nice and friendly after I placed my order.

Ok, I know people are going to say, WOW, you went into Compton? Yes, I did and I didn't have any problems.

Paradise Pizza-Closed

Paradise Pizza 376 S Lemon Ave Walnut 909-595-1556 Although a few of my recent reviews may say otherwise, I do hate the big, coporate chain restaurants, especially the pizza places. So I try and support the mom and pop pizza places. But the only trouble is you have to try out all the mom and pop pizza places before you know which one is good. Well Paradise Pizza is no paradise. They were closed for four days, Christmas-Dec 28th. I was finally able to get somebody to answer the phone and when I asked, what time do they close, the guy said I don't know. Nice. I knew I wasn't dealing with a professionally run pizza place. So I walk into Paradise and there are no menus on the wall or any kind of menus. Now I know ordering a pizza isn't rocket science but I like to see what options I have and the cost of the pizza. Oh well. I asked for a small pepperoni. The guy told me the smallest they had was a medium. I asked how big the medium was, he said about 12 inches. Ok, a little more than I wanted but who cares. I order a medium pepperoni and was shocked at the price, $5.40. They must really be hurting for business. The pizza comes out quickly and is hot. The pizza has a large amount of cheese, which I like. The amount of cheese is equal to some other place's extra cheese. The pepperoni was a bit spicy and was OK. But there was almost no sauce, a very thin layer and some spots had no sauce at all. Not good. Also not good, was the amount of grease. A very greasy, pizza. The crust was soft and chewy a bit of thicker crust. Service was OK. There is only one person there and he doesn't keep regular hours. He closes whenever he feels like. He wasn't the most friendly but he wasn't rude either. Interesting story, a person walking by, while I was waiting for the pizza, told me they served the pizza at the middle school down the street. He knew because he graduated from that middle school and he believes they still serve Paradise pizza at the school. After trying the pizza, I can't believe a school would give such a greasy pizza to kids. I wouldn't go back to Paradise Pizza again. The pizza is very greasy and while the price is good, it's just not worth it.

McDonald's Downey

McDonald's Downey
10207 Lakewood Blvd
Downey
562-622-9248

Ok, what the hell is a McDonald's review doing on The New Diner? Well this is the oldest operating McDonald's in the world. Opened in 1953, they were not part of McDonald's corporation until 1990. The restaurant was damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake but reopened two years later with a museum. The museum has all kinds of pictures and McDonald's cups, wrappers, and toys. The corporation sold it to the current owner/operator in 1998.

Ray Kroc, who would buy out the McDonald brothers, visited this location to prepare for opening his own McDonald's in Illinois.

I have been meaning to go back to this McDonald's but never made the trip. But I finally made it and I'm glad I did. One of the first things you notice is that the old McDonald's logo, Speedee, is still used, one everything from the trash cans to the signs.

I got the Big Mac meal, $3.99. Everybody knows what a Big Mac is. This isn't different than a Big Mac from anywhere else. Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a seasame seed bun. The fries were McDonald's fries, salty, softy on the inside, pretty crisp on the outside. Nothing special about it.

I then got a cheeseburger, 99 cents. Again same as any other McDonald's cheeseburger.

Service is OK. They workers do not dress like they did back when it opened. Service at McDonald's has slipped overall but this location was pretty good for McDonald's. But there are some stupid drivers in Downey, well at least in this parking lot. I can't believe some stupid, fat woman drove her Mustang about 50 mph in the damn parking lot, blasting her radio for everybody to hear. Stupid.

But I loved the sense of history you get from going here. Opened in 1953, a full five years before a drunken mick, stole the Brooklyn Dodgers from their rightful home. Wrigley Field and Gilmore Field were both thriving ballparks in LA. What a treat for a kid, living in Downey, to go to McDonald's after going to Wrigley Field to see the LA Angels vs the Hollywood Stars.

This was a very cool experience. You feel as though you stepped back in time going here. I'm glad to see McDonald's has a sense of history and has kept this location open. I would hate to see this turned into one of newer McDonald's that are being built.

Pittsburgh Broasted Chicken- Pomona-Closed

Pittsburgh Broasted Chicken- Pomona
669 Indian Hill Blvd
Pomona
909-469-2702

After all this time driving down to Los Alamitos for Pittsburgh Broasted Chicken, they finally open a location about 15 minutes from me. YES!!!!

I ordered the 2 piece lunch special, $4.79, breast and wing with lemon pepper seasoning, broasted potatoes, roll and mac salad. This is as good as their other location. The chicken is so moist and juicy and tender and since it's cooked to order, expect a 10 minute wait, fresh and hot. This batch didn't have as much lemon pepper seasoning but it was there. The pieces are fairly big. The potatoes are firm on the outside and soft inside. The mac salad was creamy but tasted like it's from a container. But who cares, you go for the chicken.

Service is good. The owner is very nice and helpful. There are a few tables inside, unlike the Los Al location which is mainly a take out.

I would go back to Pittsburgh Broasted Chicken anytime. I'm glad they opened a location closer to me. This is better than Donahoo's and Louisiana Fried Chicken in Pomona.

I found out that Pittsburgh opened from a blog titled Jerk in Pomona. Ok ok it was titled Student in Pomona and the jerk is a student at Cal Poly Pomona. Why is he a jerk? Because he's a punk kid who doesn't know how to honor Vietnam Veterans. Jerk punk kid. His post Where the Sidewalk Ends mentions, that Pomona should: "Instead of getting a traveling Vietnam war memorial in our town, why not stop wasting water and fix broken irrigation & broken irrigation?"

First of all stupid punk kid, the traveling Vietnam war memorial, is called the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, or The Traveling Wall. The Traveling Wall honors, American men and women who were killed in the Vietnam War. Secondly, there is little expense to a city for The Traveling Wall. They just have to provide a large space.

Just like the military banners are paid for by the parents of soldiers who are fighting overseas. Does the city subsidize the banners? Yes, but that is an expense that is well worth it.

3 Bears Bar-B-Q- Closed

3 Bears
11916 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles
323-754-7664

I thought that 3 Bears was a BBQ place. WRONG. It is a burger place. The burgers are huge and look awesome. So I may come back here for a burger. But I came here for BBQ and so of course I had their BBQ ribs dinner, $13.06 with double order of onion rings. In keeping in the Christmas spirit, they gave all meals $1 off. Very nice.

I wish I could say the same for their ribs. The ribs are cooked in an oven, very dry, not flavor, lots of fat and just plain bad. Ok they tried but really they need to stop making oven cooked ribs and just stick to the burgers.

Service is very good. A very nice older man took my order. He was friendly and helpful. Parking, all street parking, can be tough to find as there are many houses and apartments nearby. The neighborhood isn't exactly the best area but I didn't have any problems.

As I said, I will not go back to 3 Bears for the BBQ. But I will be back for the burgers.

Tower Pizza

Tower Pizza
8351 Lincoln Blvd
Los Angeles
310-410-4680

Tower Pizza is located near LAX and the campus of LMU. It's been there forever because they have signed shoes of Lakers' Legends, James Worthy, Magic Johnson, Kareem, and Kurt Rambis. The Lakers used to practice at LMU and from the looks of things, they stopped into Tower Pizza after practice.

I ordered the small Super Tower pizza, $7, with pepperoni, sausage, Canadian Bacon, and mushrooms. I get the pizza and the first thing I notice is the grease and lots of it. Not a good start. Then I noticed the crust, very thin, almost cracker like. But because of the grease, the crust wasn't as crispy as a cracker. But the crust wasn't good either. There were a lot of toppings but the mushrooms were from a can, the sausage was bland, the pepperoni was OK and there were little Canadian Bacon.

Service was below average. When I walked in, there was nobody greeting people at the door and nobody behind the bar. Well the guy in charge was busy playing video golf. But he takes my order and then continues his video golf. I felt as though I was interrupting his video golf time. The guy was friendly and nice but not exactly attentive. Tower Pizza gives the vive of a dive bar that happens to serve pizza. I can't imagine families going in here and having a meal.

I would not go back to Tower Pizza. The pizza is below average and you really do get the feeling you're in a dive bar that serves pizza. I do realize the full name is Tower Pizza Bar and Grill.

If you're wondering why there is a KFC cup, I actually ordered the pizza to go and then ordered soda at a nearby KFC. I didn't feel like dining in at Tower Pizza.

Bob's Big Boy- Burbank

Bob's Big Boy- Burbank
4211 W Riverside Drive
Burbank
818-843-9334

Maybe it's because of the holidays but I get nostalgic and I thought about Bob's Big Boy. So I found out that Bob's Big Boy in Burbank has been opened and has basically kept the same design, since 1949. So I knew I had to go.

What a great treat to see a non cookie cutter restaurant. Such great detail and design. I took lots of pictures.

I was shocked to see the amount of people here. The way for a table was thirty minutes on a Saturday afternoon. I would find out later that the workers there consider that to be a SLOW day!!!!

So I decided to get an take out order, since there are some picnic tables by the car hop area. I ordered the Super Big Boy with fries, $7.39. This is cheaper than the Bob's in Diamond Bar, so I figure the Burbank location does so much more volume they can charge less. The Super Big Boy is awesome. The Burbank location puts more of that Bob's relish on the Big Boy than the Diamond Bar location. But otherwise they taste exactly the same, great. The fries were ok but I saw so full from the hot dog and Big Boy, I only ate a few fries.

Service was both good and TERRIBLE. When you walk into the front door, you are greeted by a nice host. I asked him how long is the wait for a table. I didn't like the thirty minute wait, so I decide to get take out. He directed me to the take out register. He was nice, helpful and pleasant.

But the bitch at the take out register was TERRIBLE. She never greeted me. She never smiled, she had the attitude, order quick, I'm busy. When my order came up, she didn't even say thank you. She wasn't pleasant. She was just a bitch with the attitude of Why am I here? Well I can tell her many other places to go. Not sure what the hell is in the water in Burbank but terrible service at both Bob's and Papoo's.

As I was eating the Super Big Boy, a cook was taking his break. So I got to talking to him. He said Fridays and Saturdays nights are so busy you can't even get a parking space. Fridays they have a classic car night and the parking lot is filled by 4pm. I couldn't believe he considered the crowd today slow. A thirty minute wait for a table on a Saturday and he thinks that is slow!!!!

Overall though I did enjoy my experience at the Bob's Big Boy in Burbank. I would come back here if I was in the area. This is open 24 hours so that's always a plus and they have a drive thru. Hopefully that bitch isn't working the next time I come.

Papoo's Hot Dog Show-Closed

Papoo's Hot Dog Show
4300 W Riverside Dr
Burbank
818-846-1511

Papoo's Hot Dog Show is across the street from Bob's Big Boy. Both have been in Burbank since 1949. Once I saw the hot dog I wanted to give them a try.

I ordered the Dressed Dog, $3.25, a Hoffy hot dog with natural casing, mustard, onions, and relish. I asked for no relish. The hot dog was very good. A good snap and flavor. But they said the hot dog is charbroiled. Well this hot dog was barely grilled. I saw some burnt marks but it wasn't close to being charbroiled. It doesn't really make a difference to me, whether or not it's charbroiled or steamed but if you say it's charbroiled, charbroil the damn thing.

Service was TERRIBLE. I walked in and the two worthless servers saw me but didn't greet me. Nice. I took a seat, again both servers walked by, saw me but didn't say anything. Finally one of them, asks what would I like. No, hi how are you? Or what would I like to drink. I order the hot dog, she walks away and then asks what did you say you wanted to drink? Hello, stupid, you didn't ask what I wanted to drink. I told her I just want water. When I get my bill, she slams the bill down on the counter. Nice.

I would not go back here again. TERRIBLE service and while the hot dogs were good, they are overpriced.

Kyala Sushi

Kyala Sushi
1178 S Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar
909-860-9162

I have passed Kyala Sushi all the time but I have never stopped in. So I decide to see what this is all about. They have been in Diamond Bar for a long time, replacing The Factory/Gia's, which was an Italian/pizza restaurant.

I wanted to get a taste of their sushi first, so I got the yellowtail sushi, $4.75 and the shrimp tempura roll, $5.50. The yellowtail was bigger than most sushi places. But not fresh, very mushy and lacked flavor. I wasn't impressed at all. The shrimp tempura roll was a little better. The shrimp tempura was big and crunchy, the imitation crab was fresh, the rice was good. This was a good roll but a bit overpriced.

I decided to order the lunch special, $11, with salmon skin salad, seafood dynamite, chicken teriyaki, shrimp and veggie tempura.

I was impressed with the salmon skin salad. There were lots of actual salmon on top of fresh greens. The salmon was flavorful and tasty. A good salad.

I didn't touch the seafood dynamite which was salmon mouse covering a giant clam.

The chicken teriyaki was very tough and rubbery. It tasted as though the chicken came from the frozen section of the market. The teriyaki sauce was very good.

The tempura came right out of the fryer and was great. The shrimp was huge, tender and crunchy. The sweet potato and zucchini were great too.

Service was pretty good. I think the server was the owner's daughter and the namesake of the restaurant.

I would not go back to Kyala again. I thought their prices were high and the food was overall average.

Chicken Day-Closed

Chicken Day
2841 Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar
909-598-9938

Chicken Day is a Korean fried chicken restaurant. It's an interesting concept. Three different types, regular chicken, spicy sauce, and teriyaki chicken. I got the half chicken, spicy sauce, $6.95. The half chicken gets you eight pieces of chicken. I placed my order at the counter and waited for the food to arrive.

The chicken comes and it looks as though they are boneless chicken. But I am careful biting into the chicken and good thing, since they are not boneless. The chicken has a very nice crunchy outside, the spicy sauce isn't spicy at all. More in line with orange chicken sauce. The inside of the chicken is very tender and juicy. A nice dish but something is missing. The pieces weren't that big and while it was less than $8, not worth it. I would say they would split one breast into four pieces and one thigh into three pieces, and the breast and thigh aren't the biggest to start with. They weren't much bigger than wings.

Service is OK. They lady who took my order, looked to be the owner and was nice and helpful. But the young guy there, maybe her son was worthless. She had to ask him to take my order, she had to ask him to ring up my order, he took a long time to figure out how much change I was due. It wasn't as though he was a jerk or unfriendly, just very slow.

I would not go back to Chicken Day again. The chicken is good but the pieces are so small, they are not worth the price.

Grand Chicken-Closed

Grand Chicken
150 S Grand Ave
Glendora
626-914-1977

I'm not sure why but I've been craving Mediterranean food all day. So I decided to go try Grand Chicken. I know, it's a chicken place so I try the beef dish. :)

I got the Beef Filet Shish Kabob, $7.99, with salad, rice, and grilled tomato. After placing the order, I see two skewers of ground beef kabob in the grill and I asked the guy I want the beef filet shish kabob. He assured me that I would get that. So I sat down and waited. Well the order came up and I got the ground beef kabob. I told the guy I asked for the beef filet. So I wait again and I finally get the beef filet kabob. The beef was very good, tender, juicy and flavorful. A decent portion with a good price. The rice was terrible. Tasted like two day old rice. Not good. I didn't touch anything else since the salad had a ton of onions.

I also got the chicken shish kabob, $7.99, and the half chicken plate, $7.99 to go. The chicken shish kabob was very dry. Terrible. Not much flavor and not worth the price.

The rotisserie chicken ithat I got was very good, tender, juicy, and flavorful. But my buddy had the chicken and it was so dry, he needed water to wash it down. Not sure why a place named Grand Chicken has such dry chicken. I would not order the chicken again, even though my was juicy because it shouldn't be that inconsitent. But the hummus is very good, not tangy at all.

Service was OK. They did mess up my order, even after I told him twice what I wanted. But it was fixed. They were nice about.

I think Grand Chicken is a great value and has good food. I would go back but I would not order their rotisserie chicken or the chicken shish kabob again.

Furious BBQ-Grand Inn-Closed

Furious BBQ-Grand Inn
4538 N Grand Ave
Covina
626-331-9852

What is a BBQ restaurant doing at a dive bar? Serving damn good BBQ ribs, that's what.

First one of the few times, Yelp actually was worth a damn and I found out that a dive bar, Grand Inn is home to Furious BBQ. Thank you Donna S for the Yelp Review.

I ordered the ribs dinner, $10 with double mac and cheese. A couple minutes later is in front of me is four well smoked ribs and a huge portion of gooey, good mac and cheese.

The ribs had a very nice smoke ring and bark. This means the ribs were smoked, which means it's REAL BBQ. Not ribs cooked on a grill or an oven. I took a bite and oh so good. Nice, smoke flavor and tender with little fat or grizzle. A wonderful example of pork spare ribs. This is a stronger smoke flavor than other BBQ, they use oak to smoke the rib. But still good.

The mac and cheese was among the best I've ever had. Tender macaroni and gooey, melted cheese that actually coats and covers the macaroni. Soooo good. When I go to a restaurant, I don't want to mac and cheese from a box. This is home made, damn good mac and cheese.

I walked into this bar, knowing it's a dive bar. I walked in and a guy with tats all over and a beard longer than Santa, greets me and says HI. Always a good sign. I ask where is the BBQ and he directs me to the pitmaster who was sitting down at a table. I place my order with the pitmaster. The pitmaster is a very nice man. He talked to me about the history of him serving his BBQ at the Grand Inn. He took my order and served me the food in the timely manner.

The Grand Inn allows smoking inside the bar, not good. When I come here next time, I will order my ribs to go. I can't stand being in a smoked filled room. This is one of the better BBQ places around. Not exactly where I expect a BBQ restaurant but who cares when the BBQ is so good.

Newport Seafood Santa Ana

Newport Seafood Santa Ana
4411 W 1st St
Santa Ana
714-531-5146

This Newport Seafood in Santa Ana is owned by a different owner than the Newport Seafood in Rowland Heights. But they both serve great seafood. I came here with seven people and we ate family style. We all left stuffed.

Hot and sour soup, $8.95. Great for a rainy night like the night I was there. Lots of tofu, green onions, and bamboo shoots. Not too hot or sour. Nice thick brooth. I would order this again.

Lobster, 5lbs at $14 per pound. This was served Newport Special style which is baked or fried, then green onions and spices are added. The lobster is sweet, tender, cooked just right and oh sooo good. This is nice presentation. If you come to Newport Seafood you must order the lobster.

Kung Pao Chicken, $7.95. This location is known for their Kung Pao Chicken. This is pretty good with lots of breaded chicken, which are tender and flavorful. Pretty mild in terms of spiciness but a pretty good dish.

Combination sizzling plate, $13.95. This was an interesting dish. Filled with squid, shrimp, chicken, beef, and liver with assorted veggies. It does come sizzling and fresh to your table. I passed on the liver but the shrimp, chicken and beef were very good. I didn't like the gravy too much. If I ordered this again, I think I would order just the shrimp or just chicken.

Scallop Peking style, $10.95. This was my second favorite dish, next to the lobster. Their Peking style is basically "orange chicken" The outside had a very nice orange flavor, not spicy but flavorful. The scallops were huge, fresh and wonderful. A great dish and I think a steal at $10.95.

The service is very good. There were about 4-5 other large groups but we were never lacking for anything. The servers kept changing our plates, a good thing since lots of lobster shells were piling up. Water was always refilled. And the food came out quickly.

I like both locations of Newport Seafood. I would go back to either location anytime.

Update Dec 27, 2008.






I went back to Newport Seafood and got the following:

House Special Fried Rice, $7.95. This wasn't any good. The first thing I noticed was the rice wasn't hot at all. The Chinese sausage was very dry, the calamari was rubbery, the shrimp was a bit tough. I would just stay with the steamed rice.

Beef Loc Lac, $11.95 This is a dish that I see everybody ordering so I wanted to see what this is all about. This is a very good dish, lots of black pepper and a gravy over tender pieces of beef. This is suppose to come with lime and the lime juice does add a nice tangy flavor to the beef. A good dish. Maybe a bit overpriced at $11.95 but still good.

House Special Fish, $24.95. This is a very good dish. My favorite. This is striped bass, fried, then you pour the sauce over it. The sauce is a bit spicey but nothing overwhelming. The fish is nice and flakey in the inside and crispy, even with the sauce, on the outside.

Service wasn't bad that time around. I went on a Friday night and it was packed with families of eight or more. Our party of two got seated quickly but the service was spotty at best. Water wasn't refilled, they took awhile to take our order, the first guy who took our order after two items, was replaced by another guy. Why? I asked for an itemized receipt and didn't get it.

But what pissed me off the most was that the table of eight to ten people next to us, was served their food, two dishes, before we were. Even though we put in our order and was seated first. What was really bad was the damn fried rice not being hot. The other dishes were hot but the fried rice was cold.

I still will go back but when it's not so crowded.