Pee Wee's Famous Hot Dogs and Hamburgers-Closed

Pee Wee's Famous Hot Dogs and Hamburgers
5942 E Edinger Ave
Ste 104
Huntington Beach
714-846-3100

Simple customer service can go a long way. If people open a restaurant and lack customer service skills, they need to learn them quickly or get out of the business. The most basic customer service is just greeting customers with a simple; "Hi." How hard can that be?

For Pee Wee's Famous Hot Dogs and Hamburgers, it was too hard. The hot dogs are pretty good but customer service sucks.



Polish dog, $4.95- Mattern Polish sausage with mustard and onions on a baguette. I know I picked the polish, but then I got to thinking, I could just go to Mattern Sausage and Meats, and get a damn Polish sausage. I didn't have to drive all the way to Huntington Beach in the middle of pretentious jerk people.

The polish was grilled, with a good char. The sausage was fine, but when I got out to eat, I want something that I can't make myself. I could have gone to Mattern and grilled up the Polish, for much less.

The baguette was nice and soft, with a chewy texture. I like the baguette but it did overwhelm the sausage, even though the sausage was 1/3lb.

I'm not sure but maybe all their signature hot dogs and sausage are from Mattern. If so what's the point of going here?



Classic hot dog, Vienna beef hot dog, mustard and onions; $2.75. The hot dog was ok, but a bit overcooked, too much char. But Vienna beef hot dogs are good quality and this was no different. The bun was straight out of the bag, not toasted, but it was fine.

Service was below average. I don't believe that asking to be greeted when I walked into a restaurant, is asking too much. I walked in and there were two people in front of the counter, I asked if they had ordered, they had, and went to the lady behind the counter. She looked at me but never greeted me, never said one word to me. I placed my order, she asked if I wanted fries with my order, I didn't, and then gave me the total. Greeting me would have been nice and that's something all restaurants should do.

While I was eating, she came out to clean the area and she noticed me taking pictures of the hot dogs. She must have thought the pics were going on that other food review site, because when I left, she said Thank you for coming. Now, I bet she would have never said that, if she hadn't seen me take pictures. I mean, I was standing right in front of her and she didn't even greet me, so I know she lacks any kind of customer service skills. The only reason she thanked me, was in the hopes of getting a good review. Well, that didn't happen.

I wouldn't go to this place ever again. Bad customer service and a polish sausage that I can get from the source, why should I bother coming back?

P.H.A.T. Pizza-Closed

P.H.A.T. Pizza
18340 Yorba Linda Blvd
Ste 104
Yorba Linda
714-985-1515

When I found out that a Chicago style stuffed/deep dish pizza place had opened up within five miles of Tony's Little Italy, I had to try it. Tony's is my favorite Chicago style deep dish pizza in Orange County.

P.H.A.T. Pizza is so new, they haven't had the time to put up a new sign. There is still the signage from the old pizza restaurant, they replaced.




I got a medium stuffed, with sausage and half pepperoni, $20.93. When I read that other food review site, I can't believe some reviewers are that stupid. Chicago stuffed/deep dish pizza takes 30 minutes or more to bake. The fact they complain about this, shows how stupid some people can be.

Anyways, the pizza arrives and the first thing I noticed, was the watery, runny pizza. This shows to me, they use frozen items and/or they do not allow the sauce to reduce down. The sauce is a sweet, light tasting sauce. There is a lot of fennel seed in this pizza and not just from the sausage.

The amount of pepperoni and sausage, wasn't good at all. Most bites were cheese, sauce and crust.

The crust wasn't that good either. First, no cornmeal was used. Then, it was almost like a cracker crust, which you can see in the picture below. A Chicago stuffed pizza should be firm, solid, not cracker thin.



Service was good. The guy who took my order, who I think is the owner, was nice and friendly.

P.H.A.T Pizza is a Chicago stuffed/deep dish pizza place, but they do not do a good job of it. With Tony's so close, there is no need to come back.

Luscious Dumplings-Closed

Luscious Dumplings 704 W Las Tunas Dr Ste 4 San Gabriel 626-282-8695 I love dumplings and have been to many dumpling restaurants, in my search for good dumplings. I went to Luscious Dumplings, based on some reviews, but sadly it was a waste of time and money. Chive, pork, egg, and shrimp $6.50, ten dumplings that are boiled. This dumpling barely had any pork, egg, or shrimp. It was mostly chives and the little meat, in this dumpling, was bland and just plain bad. Some dumpling places do overload the dumplings with chives, maybe as a coverup for the lack of meat, and Luscious Dumplings is no exception. Cabbage, pork and shrimp, $6.50-ten dumplings, that are boiled. Another bad, bland, flavorless dumpling. Though they were more pork and shrimp, it just wasn't good. No taste, no flavor, just bad dumplings. Pork with soup, xio long bao, $6.50. The xio long bao is maybe the only saving thing about Luscious Dumplings. The xlb were pretty good, not great, certain not the best I've had. The soup had a good flavor and the pork took some of the flavor from the meat. Though, the skin was a bit thicker than I'm used to. Service was OK but the servers were below average. This is a small place and my table was right next to where the servers are standing. Well, I could hear their entire conversation; from the point spread, to a basketball game, going up, to the nice legs of a female customer. Memo to all servers, what you say in private is fine, but never say anything within earshot of customers. Very unprofessional. I didn't lack for anything, and the food came quickly; that's what I meant by service being ok. I would not go back to Luscious Dumplings again. The prices are high, especially for the bad quality of dumplings and service a complete waste of time and money.

Brats Brothers-Closed

Brats Brothers
13456 1/2 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks
818-986-4020

Just little east on Ventura Blvd., from Boneyard Bistro, is Brats Brother. I guess they were on that show with the loudmouth jerk host, Diners, Drive ins, and Dives. I didn't see the episode but I wanted some hot dogs, so I dropped in.

They make their own mustard; try the hot and sweet wasabi mustard, what great flavor and texture. But they charge for toppings, 75 cents for onions. Come on now.



Frankfurter, $3.75, all beef. This frankfurter was grilled, with a nice char and a good snap. The bun is huge, almost overwhelms the frankfurter, but I love the texture and chewiness of the bun. It works very well with any brats, sausage or frankfurter on the menu. But this was way too bland, almost as if there was no seasoning. The size is good but was almost like eating, those overrated, Dodger Dogs.



Polish sausage-pork, $5.50. Whatever seasonings that was missing in the frankfurter, must have been put in the polish sausage. This is the best Polish sausage I have ever had. It was huge, I would say close to 1/4lb. The first bite and there was a ton of flavor bursting through. This is a mild flavor, not a spicy Polish, but it's great.

Service is good. The guy who took my order was nice and friendly. A great thing about Brats Brothers; BYOB!! Yes, you can bring your own beer.

I loved the Polish sausage and wouldn't have any issues coming back, but I do think Brats Brother is on the pricey side. I also do not like the fact they charge for toppings. I mean, 75 cents for onions???

Joe Peeps New York Pizza

Joe Peeps New York Pizza
12460 Magnolia Blvd
North Hollywood
818-506-4133

Having gone to Joe Peeps in Whittier, I was looking forward to trying the Joe Peeps in North Hollywood. This is the original Joe Peeps, in the LA area. Later, they opened the Whittier location, but they are now, separate pizza restaurants.



I wanted to try this slice and I got a cheese slice, $2.25. Joe Peeps has a blue collar pizza-which is like a NY style pizza, and a 5,969 calorie pizza. I thought the slices would be the the blue collar but it was the 5,969 calorie pizza slice. It was bad. The cheese was so bland and tasteless. The crust was cardboard. The sauce had too much oregano. I was not impressed at all.

Service was good. The guy who helped me was nice and friendly.

I would not go back to the Joe Peeps in North Hollywood. So disappointing, that the original Joe Peeps, isn't as good as the Joe Peeps in Whittier.

SmoQue Barbeque-Closed

SmoQue Barbeque
5374 E 2nd St
Long Beach
562-439-4189

I was surprised to learn that another BBQ restaurant opened less than a mile east of Lucille's, on 2nd St. in Long Beach. But SmoQue Barbeque has taken on Lucille's. For those of you who like yuppie, white, suburban BBQ, this place is for you. If you like REAL BBQ, this doesn't hold up.

SmoQue is billed as a Texas style BBQ, they smoke the meats with hickory but they do not do a good job of it. The restaurant is a combination of upscale location trying to be dive, with sawdust and peanut shells on the floor.



I got the half order of baby back ribs, $17, with bacon jalapeno mac and cheese. They do not have spare ribs. The ribs has a very gritty wet rub, that had tons of chili power. The ribs maybe better, if there wasn't as much rub. But the worst part of the ribs, was it was too mushy. They had either been in the warmer or smoker for way too long.

The bacon jalapeno mac and cheese was pretty damn good. There wasn't much jalapeno, which is good, because I'm not a big fan of jalapeno but the macaroni was nice and tender, the cheese well blended and tons of nice smokey bacon. So a savory, salty, smokey dish; who wouldn't love this?

The corn on the cob was ok, the corn didn't taste fresh but was well cooked and wasn't drowned in butter.

Service was good, though a misunderstanding, almost led to a bad start. When I arrived, the place was almost empty. SmoQue is filled with flat screen TV's and they have a patio area. I wanted to see Georgia beat Auburn, so I asked if I could take this table and I pointed to it. But the hostess, who turned out to be my server, actually asked "How long do I expect to be?" I was like what kind of question is that? But she thought I was asking to sit in the patio, I was talking about the table in the dining room. That and the fact they asked if I needed change; something they never should ask a customer, service was fine.

I would not go back to SmoQue again. I thought the BBQ was average at best, and a bit overpriced.

BBQ Chicken

BBQ Chicken
2750 Alton Parkway
Irvine
949-752-2001

Located about three doors down from Original Buffalo Wings, BBQ Chicken is a Korean fried chicken chain.



I got a half order of the olive crispy chicken, $9.25, which came with six pieces of chicken. The chicken had a light crispy skin, which I really liked. But I didn't like the seasoning, a bit of ginger, which is fine, but and too much olive oil taste. I wasn't my thing and to top it off, the pieces of chicken are small. The breast pieces looked big, but that is deceiving, there is a small amount of meat, which was very juicy and tender, but not enough of it.

Service is good. Nice, helpful and friendly.

I would not go back to BBQ Chicken. I think the prices are high for the amount of chicken you get.

Big City Hot Dogs-Closed

Big City Hot Dogs
39 N Arroyo Pkwy
Pasadena
626-793-7203

Big City was my second stop on my hot dog tour of Pasadena, after going to Dog Haus. which is next just a couple miles west. Slaw Dogs is about two miles away.

Big City has hot dogs named after; big cities such as; New York, Chicago, LA, Atlanta, and Detroit.



I didn't see any plain hot dog options, so I got the New York City hot dog, $4.12, with sauerkraut and red onion sauce. The hot dogs here are 1/2lb dogs that are steamed. First bite and I wasn't impressed. No snap, but worse of all, the hot dog was mushy, bland and just plain bad. Whatever mixture of seasonings and meat they use, it's not working. The hot dog tastes the same as some supermarket brand hot dogs. Very disappointing.

The sauerkraut, was very good. Served warm, was tangy, and they used good quality cabbage. The red onion sauce was basically onions in some tomato sauce, not flavorful at all.

Service was good. The kid working was nice and friendly.

I would not go back to Big City Dog Hause. Costco is a better and cheaper option.

Dog Haus

Dog Haus

105 N Hill Ave Ste 104

Pasadena

626-577-4287

  I've never thought of Pasadena as a hot dog location. But there are now, three hot dog places within miles of Lake and the 210 freeway, that have opened in 2010. Dog Haus, Big City Hot Dogs, and Slaw Dogs. I decided to try both, Dog Haus and Big City, since both are within two miles of each other. I got a regular hot dog, with snap, with yellow mustard and raw onions, $2.74. I want to judge the taste of the hot dog and see how it rates before piling on all the toppings. I prefer a hot dog in natural casing, I love that snap and burst of flavor from a hot dog. This hot dog is pretty damn good, with a very good snap, well mixtures of seasonings and good meat. The hot dogs are steamed and served warm. I would prefer the hot dog to be served hot. I would also prefer my hot dogs on a bun, not on a Hawaiian bread roll. I like Hawaiian bread but not on a hot dog, these sweetness of the bread, doesn't work well with a hot dog. Service is good. Nice friendly people. There are very nice on the phone too. When I first found out about Dog Haus, I looked on that stupid review site and they had the wrong phone number listed. I called two days in a row, Sunday and Monday, with no answer. I thought maybe they closed. But then I found their website and I got the correct phone number. I called, they answered, and I told them about the error on their Yelp page. The guy said "Sorry" well it wasn't his fault, and I didn't call to complain, I called to see if they were opened and to let him know about the STUPID yelp, error. He knew about the error, but he thanked me for letting them know about the error. I would go back to Dog Haus, because the hot dog is very good, but I'm not sold on the Hawaiian bread.

New Taste Dumpling House-Closed

New Taste Dumpling House 301 W. Valley Blvd., #110 San Gabriel 626-282-5953 New Taste was my second stop on the XLB tour, after going to Happy Kitchen. The beef rolls; $6.75, had a thicker pancake, but was cooked perfectly; light, flakey, and not oily. The beef was cooked well, tender and flavorful and they didn't overload the rolls with green onions. The XLB's; $5.95, really lacked flavor and seasoning. I'm guessing this was frozen and then steamed, not fresh at all. I didn't care for this at all. Service, is OK. They do not speak English but they try hard. Now, how would I rank the four XLB in this shopping center? My favorite is Jin Jian, followed by Happy Kitchen, then Mei Long Village; with New Taste ranking last. If New Taste sound familiar, it's the restaurant, where the former mayor of San Gabriel made a fool of himself, that lead to his resignation.

Happy Kitchen-Closed

Happy Kitchen 301 W Valley Blvd#111 San Gabriel 626-284-2619 When I went to Mei Long Village and Jin Jian, I noticed two other places in the same shopping center, that also serves xio long bao. So I made another two stop trip to try Happy Kitchen and New Taste Dumpling House. The xio long bao, $5.99, were tasty, with good seasoning and flavor. The pork was tender, fresh and flavorful. The soup was just bursting with flavor. Something I noticed was that the owner, came out covered with flour, so you know these XLB's are made fresh!! The beef cake rolls, $6.99, were ok, but the pancake was a bit on the oily side. They had too much green onion for my tastes, but the beef was pretty good. Service is OK. But they do not speak English and the husband and wife, who are the owners, will argue and yell at each other in Chinese, right in front of the costumers. Between Happy Kitchen and New Taste Dumpling House, I liked the XLB's at Happy Kitchen, but the beef rolls were better, here at New Taste.

Smoke City Market-Closed

Smoke City Market
5424 Van Nuys Blvd
Sherman Oaks
818-855-1280

Smoke City Market was suppose to open, at least according to an LA Eater story, back in September. That didn't happen.

Then according to their Facebook page, they were going to have a soft opening on October 28th. That didn't happen.

But, finally Smoke City opened on November 4th. A friend who lives nearby told me about the opening, and a group of us dropped in.

This is billed as a Texas style BBQ, mean brisket and beef are king. But the Texas BBQ I like, is smoked with mesquite. Smoke City meats are smoked with oak.

All meats are sold by the pound and are very pricey. $18/lb for beef ribs, $8.25/lb for brisket, and $8.50/lb for baby back ribs.




I'm all about pork ribs, I prefer spare ribs but baby backs are fine. This half rack of baby back ribs was dry, salty, and just overpowered with smoke. Smoke should enhance the flavor of the meat, not overwhelm it. There was very little to no rub, but the salt and pepper seasoning was too heavy on the salt. The ribs, actually all the meats, were dry because they had been sitting in a warmer for too long.

This was not worth the $8.50/lb price.




The beef ribs at $18/lb, must be the most overpriced BBQ meat I have ever had. The ribs were huge, I'll give them that. But otherwise, it was dry, fatty, and lacked flavor. I rib I got was slightly over a pound and not worth the roughly $20 price tag.



The brisket is the best meat, I had at Smoke City. They have three selections of brisket. Lean, moist, and cutter's choice. The cutter's choice is a mixture of the lean and moist brisket. The brisket was a bit fatty. Look, I know brisket has a lot of fat. But when the right pitmaster works on the a cut of meat, he can turn that fat into flavor. The moist brisket was more fatty, than the lean, but still too much fat. The lean brisket was dry, and while it didn't have as much fat, it was too dry.

But, for three people our bill came to $100!!! This was not worth $100, not even half that amount. Ok, I'll grant you, we didn't have to order the beef ribs at $18/lb. But even at that price, we got about 3lbs, that's still $40 for a lb of brisket and half rack of baby back ribs and a few sides, which I didn't touch. The last time I went to Dr. Hogly Wogly, I was able to get a brisket and beef rib combo, with two sides for about $20 and their brisket and beef ribs are much better than Smoke City.

Service was very good at the restaurant. The people are nice and friendly and they really want you to enjoy your dining experience. But, while their use of
Facebook is a good thing, what good is it, if you give the wrong information. They were suppose to have a soft opening on Oct. 28th, this is their post:

"Smoke City Market Hey Fans!!! We are ready!!! After all this time, effort, and research we will be opening our doors for a soft launch on Thursday, October 28th! Thank you all for your support and we can not wait to serve you!
October 24 at 9:51pm"

But that soft launch didn't happen. The food trucks are using Twitter and Facebook to get the word out. If the trucks tweeted they were going to be at a location at 7pm and didn't show, they wouldn't have many customers anymore. Thus it's important to have accurate information!! Look, I know it's a pain to get permits and other things. But at least inform the people by updating the Facebook page.

I wish Smoke City Market, success. I hope they do well. They are nice people in person. But the high prices, poor quality of BBQ, and not giving accurate information on social websites, are three strikes against them. I won't go back here and to be honest, I would be shocked if Smoke City is still open next November 4th.

Vince's Spaghetti

Vince's Spaghetti
1206 W Holt Blvd
Ontario
909-986-7074

Vince's Spaghetti. An Inland Empire institution that I've been meaning to try, but one friend is adamant about not going to Vince's. But another friend wanted to have lunch and he lives close to Vince's so we decide to go have lunch at Vince's. What is interesting and lucky, was that we had planned to meet o Wednesday but plans changed and we met Thrusday; a lucky break because Vince's is closed on Wednesday.




As the name say it's all about spaghetti, but I wanted to try the French dip sandwich, $5.95. The French dip, was huge, piled with with lean, tender, though a bit dry beef. They dip the bottom piece of bread in au jus and give you a cup of au jus. The au jus is really their vegetable beef soup without the veggies. It has a tomato base/flavor. It was pretty good. I liked the bread, which has a french roll-soft, chewy and held up to the dip.

Service was pretty good, until it came time to pay the bill. Our server dropped off the check and never came back. I know you're not suppose to pay in the front, other tables were getting their checks picked up by their servers. We waited around for about ten minutes before we gave the bill to another server. Other than that, she was fine.

I enjoyed my french dip and I would go back for the French dip sandwich. But my friend got the spaghetti and it was so watery. I'm not expecting gourmet Italian food at Vince's. It's comfort food, but that spaghetti did not look appetizing. I may try it one day, but I'm not in a rush.