Prizzi's-Closed

Prizzi's
3821 Riverside Dr
Burbank
818-641-5900

There are certain things about a Chicago style deep dish pizza that I love. The chucky tomato sauce, the layers of cheese and toppings, and a nice flakey, usually with cornmeal, crust. There are places in LA like Masa of Echo Park and Hollywood Pies that serves up a very good example of Chicago deep dish pizza.

Then there are places like Numero Uno Pizza, that think a deep dish pizza means doughly crust baked in a pan. That describes Prizzi's. I heard some good things about Prizzi's but never tried their location on Franklin in LA. Then they closed that location. Then, I heard they moved to Burbank, so I decided to give them a try.

Deep dish sausage pizza-$19. This reminded me of pizza places like Numero Uno Pizza, where they bake a pizza in a deep dish pan and call it Chicago deep dish pizza, but in reality it's nothing close to deep dish Chicago pizza. This was just a large amount of doughy crust, a little sauce then the ground up sausage, and then cheese. It was better than Numero Uno Pizza, but it wasn't a true deep dish Chicago pizza. I wasn't impressed with the sausage, because it was like ground sausage, not in the chunky pieces or the flat layer of sausage you see. The texture and taste was just wrong.

Deep dish meat lovers pizza-sausage, pepperoni, and ground beef, $25. The first thing I noticed about this pizza was the sausage. It was so thin. If you had true Chicago deep dish pizza before, you know the sausage has chunky pieces of tomato. It isn't a thin smooth layer.

This was a little better than the sausage, but the crust wasn't that good, a bit doughly. The cheese and toppings were OK, but nothing really stood out. Nor did this come close to Chicago deep dish pizza.

Since I have had deep dish pizza before, I know they take awhile to bake. The servers should tell people about the wait. Our server did not and that could be a problem for people who don't know about Chicago deep dish pizza.

I paid the server and told her it's all your's. A few minutes later the server came and asked, "Do I need change?" Now, WTF is that, I already told you "it's all your's" and even if you didn't understand, you come back with change and not empty handed.

Otherwise, service was pretty good.

To call Prizzi's a true Chicago deep dish pizza place, would be a mistake. I saw some of their other items, salads, sandwiches, pasta etc and they did look pretty good. I may go to try the other items, but I won't go back for the pizza.

The Market Grill-Closed

The Market Grill
525 S Shamrock Ave
Monrovia
626-303-4314

Have you ever had great expectations about something, but they didn't live up to expectations? Maybe it was a date with a beautiful woman, but during the date you found out she had the personality of a lugnut and the IQ to match? Or maybe you were expecting a great vacation and all you got was rain and a bad tour guide?

Well, that's the way I feel about The Market Grill in Monrovia. I heard some great things about The Market Grill and had great expectations. But sadly, my expectations were not met.

Located in a market, duh-thus the name, Market Grill serves up burgers, sandwiches, soups, and hot dogs. There are about six tables and a few counter spaces to dine in. It wasn't that crowded when I went on a Saturday afternoon around lunch time.

I ordered the 1/3lb. bacon burger, $7.25, with cheese, add 50 cents, with fresh fruit. The burger comes with lettuce, tomato, red onions, pickles and 1000 island dressing. I asked for no pickles. They ask how you would like your burgers cooked, I asked for medium rare, I got a burger that needed to be on the grill just a little longer. Nothing too bad, but I would like the burger cooked how I asked for it.

Anyways, the burger was fine. The meat was well seasoned and moist, it was messy and a bit greasy, what a burger should be. The toppings were all fresh, the bun was your standard bun. But, there wasn't anything mind blowing or outstanding out it. It wasn't something I would drive out of my way for. You could get this burger from any greasy spoon, in any neighborhood. I read that things are freshed baked here. I saw bread with the label from Costco. The burger buns were from a package, that looked like a food service package. Somebody has wrong information.

Service is very good. You are greeted once you enter the restaurant, whether by a cook or the person taking orders. Very nice, something many restaurants need to improve upon. The guy taking my order was nice and helpful. After asking me if I wanted everything on my burger, he listed everything that came on the burger. Some cashiers and servers don't know their own menu, and have no idea what comes on their burgers. So it is good to see this staff is well trained and knowledgeable about their menu.

Again, the burger was fine. I don't want to give the impression that The Market Grill was bad. It's just that I heard some many great things about The Market Grill and it just wasn't outstanding or worth the trip.

Roadside Cafe-Closed

Roadside Cafe
1822 N Glassell St
Orange
714-283-4901

I love broasted chicken and I'm always excited to find out about new broasted chicken restaurants. When I found out that Roadside Cafe serves up broasted chicken, I planned on going back to Hida'Way, to see which place in Orange serves up the best broasted chicken. I called up Hida'Way and the number was changed, so I called the new number and it was Roadside Cafe!!!

Guess the story is, Hida'Way's owner decided to get out of the restaurant business and turn his building into a laundromat!!! Roadside Cafe bought Hida'Way's broasted machines. So the city of Orange still has a restaurant that serves broasted chicken.

Roadside Cafe is an oasis among the many industrial buildings on the stretch of Glassell. The decor is great, with old signs and an old gas pump near the front door. This does remind you of a roadside cafe along Route 66.

I went to Roadside Cafe's website and found a coupon; eight pieces of broasted chicken,$9.49 on the coupon, $10.32 after sales tax. The eight pieces broke down into 2 wings, 2 legs, 2 thighs, and 2 breast pieces. I went on a Monday, and on their "Specials" board, the eight piece broasted chicken was $9.99. The regular price for the eight piece chicken is $10.95.

The chicken is cooked to order. For your stupid Yelpers, that means the chicken isn't sitting under heat lamps. It is only cooked after you ordered it. That means it may take 15-20 minutes to get your broasted chicken. What would you rather have; chicken that has been sitting under heat lamps for hours on end, or chicken cooked to order? I can't believe that people would complain about the wait time for cooked to order chicken. Stupid Yelpers.

I only had the breast piece. The skin was darker than other broasted chicken places I have been to. That usually means the oil they use to broast the chicken needs to be changed. But, the skin was light and crispy, like broasted chicken should be. The breast meat was pretty moist and flavorfull. Not the best broasted chicken but pretty good and certainly better than Hida'Way.

Service was great. The young lady who took my order was very nice and friendly. She told me about Hida'Way closing and how Roadside brought the broasting machines. Many other restaurants could take lesson in customer service from the people at Roadside Cafe.

I would go back to Roadside Cafe and give the broasted chicken another chance; like I said it wasn't the best broasted chicken I've had, but it was pretty good.

Senor Baja-Closed

Senor Baja
3908 Grand Ave
Unit A
Chino
909-902-5110

A few years ago, I reviewed a restaurant, Senor Baja/El Taco Nazo, that had undergone a name change. To show how quickly things can change, the building that held the Senor Baja/El Taco Nazo I reviewed, has been demolished and is currently a parking lot for a Fresh & Easy Market.

I found out that the owners El Taco Nazo/Senor Fish had a dispute. So, to settle this dispute, one side kept the El Taco Nazo name and the other side opened up Senor Baja.

So I decided to try both and see who had the best fish tacos!! I first went to El Taco Nazo, then tried the Senor Baja in Chino!!

Unlike the El Taco Nazo, Senor Baja does have fish tacos for 99 cents on Wednesday. The fish tacos are regularly $1.59. I asked the cashier what type of fish they use and he told me mahi mahi. But, the fish here was just too greasy. It was clear the oil they used to fry the fish, wasn't hot enough and just soaked up all the oil. The fish wasn't mahi mahi, I figure the fish they use is either pollock or basa. It may have been good, but the oil soaked through the batter and into the fish.

The cabbage and tomatoes were fresh and the white sauce good.

Service here was good. While the guy did give me wrong information, he was nice and friendly.

So, who was better? El Taco Nazo or Senor Baja; I'll call it a mediocre tie!! Neither was great or even good. Honestly, I would only go to Tacos Baja in East LA, for fish tacos.

El Taco Nazo

El Taco Nazo
1267 N Grand Ave
Walnut
909-595-0555

A few years ago, I reviewed a restaurant, Senor Baja/El Taco Nazo, that had undergone a name change. To show how quickly things can change, the building that held the El Taco Nazo/Senor Baja I reviewed, has been demolished and is currently a parking lot for a Fresh & Easy Market.

I found out that the owners, who are cousins, of El Taco Nazo/Senor Baja had a dispute. Over what, I don't know. Anyways, to settle this dispute, one side kept the El Taco Nazo name and the other side opened up Senor Baja.

So I decided to try both and see who had the best fish tacos!!

I went to El Taco Nazo across the street from Mt. Sac and then drove to the Senor Baja in Chino.

I thought El Taco Nazo had fish tacos for 99 cents on Wednesday, but they do not. So I paid $1.89 for two fish tacos. The fish they use is pollock and from the pictures, these tacos look huge. But pictures are deceiving. The fish has so much batter covering it, it wasn't even funny. The batter was crunchy and crispy, which is nice. But, there wasn't enough fish between the batter. The small amount of fish was tender and flaky.

The cabbage was fresh and the white sauce was mild and light.

These were cooked to order and came out hot. Not worth the $1.89 price because there isn't a lot of fish.

What wasn't hot was the service. I walked up to the cashier and wasn't greeted. Why is it so hard for people in customer service, to provide customer service. Customer service includes greeting people!!! A simple hi, can go a long way. Anyways, she wasn't the most friendly person, answering questions in a matter of fact way.

I wouldn't go back to El Taco Nazo again. The fish taco, while nicely fried, doesn't have enough fish, and the service isn't good at all.