El Atacor #8

El Atacor #8
6506 Whittier Blvd
East L.A.
323-832-9263

After going to El Atacor #11, I did further research and found that I've driven by #2, #7 and #8 all the time along Whittier Blvd. We decide to go to #8 and give those potato tacos a try.

I ordered the three potato tacos with rice and beans for $5.29 and the super burrito (AKA porno burrito) for $5.95.

The potato tacos are deep fried tacos filled with potatoes. The corn taco shells are very cruchy and the potatoes are mashed but you don't really taste them. While I was eating this taco I was thinking this kinda of reminds me of a Tito's taco. It wasn't my thing but I wanted to try it.

The Porno burrito was a little better than the #11 location, not as much fat, not as chewy. They used better meats but it's still not the top quality meat you find at other taco stands.

Service was good. The guy behind the counter was nice and friendly and spoke very good English. This El Acator is basically a take out place but they do have some tables outside.

I'm not going to try #2 or #7 but I get the general idea of El Atacor. It's cheap eats. The quality isn't top notch but it's OK. I would much prefer though to go to El Gallo Giro or King Taco and get a better quality burrito.

El Atacor #11

El Atacor #11
2622 N. Figueroa Ave
Los Angeles
323-441-8477

Porno Burrito. Potato taco. What are these? They are the items that made El Atacor famous or is it infamous?

The porno burrito is just a huge burrito, made with your choice of meat, I got the carne asada, beans, rice, sour cream, guacamole, and lettuce all for $5.99. The burrito comes wrapped in foil. It's good but the carne asada isn't the best. It has a lot of fat and is tough and chewy. I'll give you a guess as to why they call it the porno burrito.

Service is good. The lady working behind the counter speaks English very well and is very helpful, she answered all my questions.

The general idea for El Atacor is cheap eats. You're not going to get the best quality meat. It's OK but doesn't come close to the quality of meat at El Gallo Giro or King Taco. Don't expect much and you'll be happy.

Kabuki-Huntington Beach

Kabuki
7801 Edinger Ave
Huntington Beach
714-898-9239

Yes, I have been to the Kabuki in Old Town Pasadena. Kabuki is coporate sushi place. I mean you can't tell whether you're in the Pasadena or Huntington Beach location. Generally the food is the same, though as you'll read, there was a big difference at the Huntington Beach location.

I had the yellowtail suhi, $3.95, Kabuki roll, $8.95, tuna, salmon, yellowtail, crab and avocado, crab sushi, $3.50, and the shrimp roll, $3.95.

The yellowtail and crab sushi were both very fresh and they used good quality fish and crab. The Kabuki roll was good. But I didn't like the tuna. It was chewy and not that fresh. I eat one piece and noticed the chewy, non fresh fish and wanted to see which one it was. So the next one, I eat each fish one by one and found it was the tuna. They need to be more careful of what they put into rolls. The shrimp roll was fresh and good.

Service was pretty good, comparable to the service at the Pasadena location.

It would take a lot for me to go back to the Huntington Beach location. I wasn't happy about the tuna not being fresh. I've never had that happen at the Pasadena location. But it was only one fish, not every fish, so I'll cut them some slack.

Sushi Saurus-Closed

Sushi Saurus
5260 E 2ND St
Long Beach
562-439-1950

What a surprise!! I've been past Sushi Saurus all the time. But I've never stopped in. So finally I went there and I realize I should have gone there much sooner. This is a great sushi place.

I ordered the yellowtail, $4.25, white tuna, $3.95, albacore, $3.95, and scallops $3.95. The fish are cut so much thicker than other sushi places I've been to. The quality of the fish is great. At least a couple grades above Aki Sushi. This was so good. What a treat. They were all fresh, though the scallops were a bit on the mushy, chewy side. But the yellowtail was the best yellowtail sushi I've ever had.

Both the sushi chef and server was friendly but the sushi chef was a bit slow. There weren't that many people so I expected to be served faster. But he did make great sushi. But he could improve how fast he served the sushi. The server kept refilling my water glass every time it went a 1/4 way day. I wasn't lacking for anything from the server.

I would go back to Sushi Saurus anytime. The sush is top notch and the prices are great. Sushis Saurus is a small place, so go there early on Fri and Sat, unless you want to wait a long time.

The Counter-Irvine

The Counter
6416 Irvine Boulevard
Irvine
949-336-7272

I went to The Counter in Santa Monica and really enjoyed their burgers. So when I heard they opened up a location in Irvine, I figured why not try it again.

At The Counter you pick what type of burger you want. You have a choice of turkey, beef, or veggie. Then choose your cheese, toppings, and sauce.

I picked the 1/3 lb beef burger, with horseradish cheddar cheese, lettuce blend and tomatoes, and a peppercorn steak sauce on a hamburger bun. The burgers are cooked medium unless you ask for something else. I just asked for medium but got medium rare if not rare, there was lots of pink. But I'm not that picky about how meat is cooked. I can do medium rare and at times rare. But I figured they should be able to cook a burger properly.

The burger was good with the horseradish cheddar adding a nice kick to the burger. This burger was good but I thought it wasn't as good as the Santa Monica location. Sure, I am being a bit tough for them not cooking my burger correctly, but at the Santa Monica location, I got everything I wanted.

The burger and a Blue Moon, with tax and tip, was $16. Service was good as the server was helful and friendly.

I would go back to The Counter to make another combination burger. There are so many good choices. I may even try one of their turkey burgers.

The Crow Bar

The Crow Bar
2325 E Coash Highway
Corona Del Mar
949-675-0070

Want to go to a place with pretentious people, overpriced average food? Well The Crow Bar is for you. The Crow Bar opened up in Corona Del Mar about six weeks ago and since it's new and hip, it attracts a lot of pretentious people.

I looked through their menu and most stuff like th quail eggs, $9, duck confit, $16, and the crowbar cassoulet, $20 didn't appeal to me. So since I figured this was a bar I would order bar food, a burger.

I got the Crow Bar burger, $9.50. A 1/4lb burger o ciabatta, tallegio and gorgonzola, and roasted tomato marmalade. When I read this I figured they were trying to come up with their own gourmet signature burger like Father's Office. The Crowbar burger leaves a lot to be desired. The burger was cooked medium rare, which how I ordered it. The ciabatta was soft, but not toasted, and chewy. But the burger was lacking. It was ok but certainly not outstanding. Maybe a little above a place like Red Robin.

Service was good. The server was fast, attentive and friendly.

I would not go back to The Crow Bar. Very average food and very high prices do not go well together.

Khoury's Restaurant-Closed

Khoury's Restaurant
110 Marina Dr.
Long Beach
562-598-6800

As I write this review, I'm so fucking happy!!!! That fucking NFL team in Indiana lost to the San Diego Chargers. YES GO Chargers.

The big draw at Khoury's is the all you can eat Maine lobster. The buffet, which is served Saturday nights, also includes crab legs, roast beef, shrimp cocktail, a pasta station, and a salad station all for $45.95.

You're limited to one Maine lobster per trip. The lobster are big when you get them. But some were missing the claws, others as you can see in the picture had one huge claw and one smaller claw. I only ate the tails of most the lobsters. The claws, which normally provide good pieces of meat were were rubbery and not tasty at all. The tails were a bit tough but they were good, dipped in the melted hot butter they served them with.

The snow crab legs were among the largest snow crab legs I've seen. They were served chilled and were meatly and tasty.

For the price you pay, you better eat a lot of crab legs and lobsters. I had six lobsters and two plate fulls of crab legs. These two items are the only thing good in the buffet.

The one problem is that most of the hot items have little turnover. So they stay under the heat lamps or steam trays for a long time and just get bad.

The roast beef, which they say it's prime rib, but it's really a roast beef. It's not from the same cut as the prime rib. The beef is very tough and not tender at all.

The shrimp cocktail is already peeled, a nice touch but the shrimp was overcooked and tough.

The pasta station has tons of seafood, crab, shrimp, and scallops, and fresh herbs and pasta with red and white sauce. I got the scallops and red sauce with some basil. The sauce was so flavorless. I've had better sauce in no name brand canned sauce. The scallops were cooked nice and saved the dish. I ate the scallops but the didn't finish the pasta.

Service is OK. I made reservations on Wednesday. I called Saturday afternoon to confirm the reservations and they had me on the list. I arrive about 10 minutes for my reservations and the two hostesses couldn't find my reservation. One hostess dressed as though she was going to a club right after work. But we got seated anyways.

Our server was slow at taking away dishes from our table, refilling drinks and getting more napkins.

The buffet line can be long. We got there at 7pm and they had one stem tray filled with lobster. Once the tray was empty, it took forever the server to go back into the kitchen and get another one. All the while the line just got longer and longer. Later on as two or three larger parties came in, they would get a few trays of lobster and would serve people faster.

I would go back to Khoury's again but only for the lobster and crab legs. Again to get your money's worth you gotta eat a lot of lobster and crab legs. I would say at least 3 lobsters would be worth the price.

E Mei Shan-Closed

E Mei Shan
15848 Halliburton Rd.
Hacienda Heights
626-937-6555

I had been to E Mei Shan once before and wasn't too impressed with the food. But I wanted to get some lunch and figured why not give them another chance. I ordered the shrimp with Chinese Broccoli, $5.95 and steak with black pepper, $6.95 from their lunch special menu. The menu goes weekdays from 11-3pm.

The shrimp with Chinese broccoli was pretty bland and flavorless. They needed to put something more in there. There were ginger and garlic but they didn't add any flavor to them.

But the great part of the meal was the steak with black pepper. What a treat. The meat was so tender and thicker than most beef at Chinese restaurants. There was so much flavor and taste to this dish, they must have taken out the flavor in the shrimp dish and brought it to the steak dish.

E Mei Shan is cash only, though they do not have a big sign. The service is good and the guy was nice when I said I need to go to the ATM to get cash. My order came up quickl.

I would go back to E Mei Shan for the steak in black pepper lunch special. Interesting it's not on the regular menu but I'm guessing they will make it for you, if you request it.

Tony Roma's-Alhambra-Closed

Tony Roma's
68 W Main St
Alhambra
626-300-6656

Everybody has heard of Tony's Roma's. It is not the place for ribs. They think good ribs due to the sauce. it's not. It's the way the ribs are cooked, slowly smoked that makes good ribs.

But I was very hungry and wanted to just pig out. So on Thursdays at the Alhambra locatio, they have an Endless slab of ribs special for $23.95. The ribs include two sides, I picked the steamed vegetables and corn. They will bring you plateful of ribs until you say stop.

The ribs are cooked in an oven and have flavorless without the sauce. The sauce is actually pretty good. I think if Tony Roma's bottled their sauce and sold it, the sauce would be a top seller. But the ribs are below average at best.

Service was good. The server was friendly and attentive. She brought the extra plates of ribs almost too fast but that's not really a big deal.

I will not go back to Tony Roma's again. I wanted to go for the endless slab and to review Tony Roma's.

Carousel

Carousel
304 Brand Blvd
Glendale
818-246-7775

I think I found a better kebab place than Shirazz in Glendale. Carousel has a very good filet shish kebab, that is even better than Shirazz.

The filet shish kebab, $17.95. is very tender piece of actual filet. Ok it's not USDA prime, it's USDA choice but it's still tender and juicy. The kebab came with rice pilaf, which was very flavorful. And some seasoned pita bread. Next time I go, regular pita bread will be fine.

Service was OK. The server was nice enough but he wasn't around that often. He didn't bother coming by to ask how things were. After our meals were served, he didn't come back until we asked for the check.

I would go back to Carousel because the food is great. Sure it's a little pricey and it wouldn't hurt for more and/or bigger pieces of meat but the meat is a very good cut of meat.

The Original State Door Deli

The Original State Door Deli
26 Vesey St.
NYC
212-791-5252

While visiting Ground Zero, I wanted to get something to eat in the area. One of those hot dog carts didn't sound too appealing. While walking back to the subway station, I saw The Original Stage Door Deli and figured I need to go there. Why? I'll tell you later.

I ordered the corned beef sandwich, $7.25, on rye with a bag of pototoe chips. This corned beef was Boar's Head brand corned beef. Boar's Head is a good quality meat but I'm excepting something more when I go to a NY deli. The sandwich was tasty and the corned beef was lean. This sandwich was good and well worth the price but this isn't anything special.

Service is good. People are nice and friendly.

The reason I wanted to go to The Original Stage Door Deli was because it was only a few yards from the World Trade Center. As I mentioned I went to Ground Zero and so many emotions came to mind. While I was eating my sandwich, I thought of all the people who were killed Sept. 11th, who may have eaten at this deli. I thought of the people who escaped and how they may have eaten at this deli. How many people, who used to work at the World Trade Center, went to lunch at The Original Stage Door Deli? How many people made plans to have lunch at The Original Stage Door Deli on Sept 11, 2001? The reason I went to The Original Stage Door Deli was to honor all those who died on Sept. 11th.

Katz's

Katz's Deli
205 E. Houston St
NYC
212-254-2246

The Legendary Katz's Deli. I had to go when I was in NY.

I ordered a pastrami ($14.35) and corned beef ($13.95) sandwich. The sandwiches are cut and made to order by the counterman. I loved the pastrami on rye. The pastrami was cut thick and was so good. Much better than that overrated Langers in LA. The pastrami wasn't fatty, because the counterman cut away alot of the fat. I loved this sandwich.

I didn't like the corned beef. The corned beef was so salty I was drinking water for three hours aftewards. The counterman did a great job cutting away a lot of fat but it still wasn't a good sandwich. I've had bettter corned beef sandwiches at Billy's and Brent.

Service is good but expect to wait a long time. You can either have wait service or go up to the counter and order you meal. The counter guy I had was great. He was helpful and he did his job well. He cut away most of the fat in the meats and piled the meats high on the sandwich.

When you enter Katz's, you are given a ticket. You give that ticket to your counterman or the server at your table. They mark what you order on that ticket. Once you get your ticket you can go to the shortest line for your sandwich. But be warned if you want a hot dog, burger, or soup there is another line for that.

But what does suck is the people. There are some rude, jerk people. I was waiting in line and a damn limey bastard just pushed his way to his seat. I said EXCUSE Me and he said something like I said excuse me. If he didn't have his baby son, I might have punched his limey lights out. What a jerk.

Also there are a ton of people and you may have to share a table. People don't bus their own table and just leave their trays on the table. That really sucks. Lazy people, just take your tray. It's not that heavy.

I would go back to Katz's for the food but I don't need the hassle of jerk people.

Crosby Pizza Stop

Crosby Pizza Stop
1731 Crosby Ave
Bronx
718-823-8980

Ok, I love NY style pizza. It's simple, no frills pizza. I haven't been to many NY pizza places but I can't imagine any place being better than Crosby Pizza Stop. I love this place.

The first picture is the silician pizza. The silician is a thicker crust pizza. I got the plain, just cheese pizza. It was wonderful. So much nice fresh cheese and a thick crust.

The second picture is a regular, plain pizza. As you can see the pizza is a thin crust pizza. It was filled with tons of fresh cheese and a great sauce. It's not greasy at all, if you blot the pizza, it won't be covered with grease as with other NY pizza places.

All slices at Crosby's are $2 which is a steal!!!

Another steal is the whole pie. Pictured is a half cheese and half sausage and pepperoni, for $20. This was just great. Lots of pepperoni and sausage and the fresh cheese. Just a GREAT pizza.

Service is great. The people are nice and friendly, even if they are Yankee fans.

I go back to Crosby Pizza every time I'm there. I love the place. The only thing I don't like about Crosby, is that it's in NY. I wish they were in LA.

Crosstown Diner

Crosstown Diner
2880 Bruckner Blvd
Bronx
718-597-3450

After taking the redeye from LA to NY and getting about two hours sleep, we went to the Crosstown Diner for breakfast. Sorry for the lack of a picture of the restaurant.

I ordered two eggs and bacon, with home fries, and toast for $5. Now that's a great price anywhere. But the eggs, which I ordered over hard, were too well done. I hate all this brown stuff on eggs. Yes the yolk was cook and not running but the egg white should be fairly white, not brown. The bacon was terrible, it must have been sitting under heat lamps for a long time. The home fries were decent but I didn't finish them.

Service was pretty good. Our server was attentive but she had a New York attitude. She wasn't exactly friendly but she wasn't exactly a bitch either.

I wouldn't go back to the Crosstown Diner for breakfast. Yes, the prices are great but the food isn't good, so why waste money?

F and J Pine

FJ Pine
1913 Bronxdale Ave
Bronx
718-792-5956

Sorry for the lack of the restaurant front picture. It was pouring down rain when we went and I didn't take a picture.

I was in the Bronx for Christmas. We had dinner at FJ Pine.

I ordered the broiled halibut, which is seasoned in arreganata bread crumbs with a white wine, garlic butter sauce, $16.50. About 20 minutes later the server told me they were out of halibut, so I picked the broiled filet of sole. The sole was nice, flakely, moist and flavorful. At times I think a white wine sauce can overpower the food but they did a good job of adding flavor to the sole.

What they didn't do a good job of was the service. First and foremost it was SLOW. I could have walked to Ebbets Field and back and my order still wouldn't have been up. It took forever to get water, beer, and bread. It took forever to actually find our server. When the check finally came, the server didn't change the order from halibut to sole, which was a dollar less, but kept the higher priced halibut on the bill. My girlfriend paid for the meal and I didn't know until after she paid. She tipped about ten percent and even that was too much.

I would not go back to Pine again. The service is sooooo damn slow. The food is good but I don't think it's worth the price.