Pepe's NY Pizza

Pepe's NY Pizza
11946 Ventura Blvd
Studio City
818-358-2233

This maybe the first pizza place The New Diner has reviewed in the Valley. I read up about Pepe's NY Pizza and people had good things to say about it.

Whenever I go to NY-style pizza places, I want to order fresh baked pizzas. I don't want a pizza that has been sitting around forever. The only time I order slices, is when I see a freshly made pizza being put into the display case or know that a place has good turnover and the pizza was recently, say last 15 minutes, made.



Sicilian pizza with pepperoni, $23.99. Cut into squares, this was OK. Most Sicilian pizza I've had, the crust was very soft and chewy. The crust was a bit heavier and dense and crisp. The sauce was very good, mild flavor that didn't overwhelm the pizza. The pepperoni was kind of bland, there was nothing special about. I did think they could have put more pieces of pepperoni on the pizza.

This was a pricey pizza, $21 for just plain cheese and $2 per topping. I don't think it was worth the price.



Vegetarian pizza, $20.99, for a 20 in. pizza. The price for a 20 in. cheese pizza is, $16.99 and $2 for extra toppings, so this was a good deal. This pizza had tomatoes, onions, black olives, bell peppers, and mushrooms. The crust was thin, but thicker than most New York style pizza places. But, this crust was soggy, maybe from all the veggies on the pizza? But, I've had veggie pizzas where the crust was firm and held up to the veggies.

Service was very good. The guy was nice and helpful.

Overall I wasn't too impressed the Pepe's NY Pizza. I wouldn't make a special trip back, and if I'm the area, I would prefer to try another pizza place, than go back to Pepe's.

Original Graziano's Pizza-Closed

Original Graziano's Pizza
2 Village Loop Rd
Pomona
909-623-5060

I love broasted chicken and I will try any restaurant that serves broasted chicken, that is near me. Broasted chicken is actually a patented process and machine that involves pressure cooking the chicken after it is marinated and breaded. But many places use a comparable process, including the world famous Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Broaster is the company that sells the fryers and patent process, and they have a list of restaurants that offer their broasted chicken. I was shocked to see the served broasted chicken at Original Graziano's Pizza in Pomona.




I got the four piece broasted chicken, which was cooked to order. I wasn't that impressed with this broasted chicken. The skin was light, crispy and well seasoned. But the breast and wing pieces were not juicy or tender. They were stringy and a bit tough. The dark pieces; legs and thighs were very juicy and tender, if all pieces of the chicken was this juicy and tender, this place would be a great place. But I'm a white meat person and the white meat and that's how I judge broasted chicken. The size of the chicken was a bit small, so maybe that's why the breast piece wasn't as juicy.

Service was great. Very nice young people working there. The young lady who took my order was nice and friendly. She told me about the specials, and was patient when I asked her questions about the broasted chicken. While I was waiting for the chicken, three other workers came up and asked if I needed help!!! That's awesome, because there have been so many times, when I wasn't greeted when walking into a restaurant.

The pizza looks pretty good, so I maybe back here for some pizza. But, I'm not sure if I would go back for the broasted chicken, since I like white meat chicken and found it lacking. But, if you like dark meat chicken, Original Graziano's Pizza is a great place to go. If you have a little league team, this is a great place to host a party; lots of space and nice friendly people working there.

Update Feb 26, 2010



I went back for the pizza. Original Graziano's Pizza has a dinner special Mon-Thursday. The special on Thursday is a large one topping pizza for $7.99. I got the special with pepperoni.

This pizza was below average. While the outside of the crust was crispy, the inside was undercooked. That usually means the oven was set too high. This needed to be in the oven about another five minutes. The cheese was pretty good, piled high. The pepperoni was a bit bland. The sauce was there, but there wasn't anything outstanding about it.

Service is always great here. I was greeted, almost before the door closed behind me. What a great experience, after going to so many restaurants where I wasn't greeted at all, even when I was standing right in front of the server. The people there are friendly and helpful.

While the pizza is below average and I'm not really sold on the broasted chicken, I love the service of Original Graziano's Pizza.

Pita Pockets

Pita Pockets
9127 Reseda Blvd
Northridge
818-709-4444

I've had kebobs sandwiches before, where the "bread" is a just a plain pita bread. But, I heard about the laffa at Pita Pockets, that are freshly made and I wanted to give them a try.




Lemon chicken laffa, $7.75, lettuce, onions, garlic sauce, and onions. The laffa is basically a thicker pita bread. There is a difference in texture than pita bread; softer and lighter than pita bread, though a bit more chewy. The laffa are freshly made and come out warm.

The lettuce, onions and tomatoes were very fresh. The garlic sauce was mild, you know it's there but it doesn't overwhelm you.

The difference between a lemon chicken and regular chicken kebob, is that they put a lemon sauce on the chicken. The chicken itself was a bit dry and tough. The portion size, could have been a bit larger too. The lemon sauce is good, with a nice tangy flavor but nothing overpowering.

The laffa may look big, but there isn't a lot of chicken inside. I don't think it's worth the $7.75 price.

Service is good. Nice, friendly people taking the orders and making the laffa.

If I'm in the area, I may go back to Pita Pockets, but I wouldn't rush back. Overall the laffa is pretty good, but not a good value.

Capri Deli & Kitchen

Capri Deli & Kitchen
713 E San Bernardino Rd
Covina
626-331-0233

As you can tell by the picture, Capri has been around since 1954. I've been craving a good sandwich and I decided to go to Capri.




I got a large (12") cold cut combo sandwich, $7.39, ham, mortadella, salami, coppocollo, prosciuttini, and provolone cheese. Yes, that's right five meats and cheese on a sandwich. The sandwiches come with lettuce, tomato and oil, but I had them replace the oil, with mayo. This was a great sandwich with tons of good quality cold cuts and fresh lettuce and tomatoes. The bread is an Italian roll, that was soft and chewy, with good texture.

The only thing I found interesting is, the way they put the sandwich into two different bags. I thought they would wrap the entire sandwich in butcher paper, but it was split in half and put into two different bags.

But, that wasn't that big of a deal, the sandwich was great.



I wanted a hot sandwich, so I ordered the chicken parmesan sandwich, $6.45, breaded chicken patty, marinara sauce, and provolone cheese. I wasn't impressed with this at all. The chicken was tough, chewy and seemed as they had been in the oven for too long. There wasn't a lot of marinara sauce on the sandwich, but they give you a portion, on the side. The marinara sauce was ok, though a bit bland.

Service was OK. The line during lunch is long, but moves quickly. They have a lot of people making sandwiches. The young girl, who made my sandwich is ok, not overly friendly, just kinda of going through the motions. She wasn't bad, but she wasn't great, either.

I would go back to Capri again, but I wouldn't order the chicken parmesan sandwich again.

Alina's Lebanese Cuisine

Alina's Lebanese Cuisine
2250 S Archibald Ave
Suite B
Ontario
909-947-2070

I am amazed to find Middle Eastern cuisine in the eastern part of the Inland Empire. I heard about Alina's Lebanese Cuisine, a few months ago and decided to give them a try.

I finally got a chance to try Alina's Lebanese Cuisine and overall, I was impressed.



Beef kebob, $10.99, with salad, rice and hummus. The salad was romaine lettuce topped with some pita chips. The lettuce was very fresh and was topped with a citrus dressing.

The rice is a rice pilaf, that had a nice flavor, though they could have made the portion size just a bit bigger.

The hummus was exactly how I like hummus, smooth texture and a mild, not tangy or sour taste.

The beef kebobs, were a bit dry, tough and lacked flavor and seasoning. The beef was select grade beef, it was tough and lacked flavor. The only good thing about the beef is the portion size, about half a pound of beef.



Chicken kebob, $8.99, also included the hummus and salad. But, what the beef lacked in flavor and seasoning, the chicken had it and more!! The chicken, about half a pound of white meat chicken, was cooked perfectly, so tender and quickly. And what flavor- good middle eastern seasonings, topped with lemon juicy.

Service was very good. The owner is nice and helpful.

I would go back to Alina's Lebanese Cuisine. While I didn't care for the beef kebobs, overall, I was impressed with quality of chicken kebobs and portion size.

The Parlor

The Parlor
7250 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles
323-930-2100

The Parlor is your normal sports bar, with bar food. I don't expect any sports bar to be a five star restaurant, I just want good quality food.




I wasn't really in the mood for wings or a burger, but the fish and chips, $12, sounded good, even though the server didn't know what kind of fish they used.

A few minutes my fish and chips arrived. First, I asked for and got well done fries. Very nice and crunchy outside and soft inside. Good start.

Then two huge portions of fish. I asked the guy who brought me the fish and chips what kind of fish, he didn't know but would ask the chef. About a minute later, he said the fish was basa fish.

So, I take a bite of the fish and the lightest, batter is covering the fish. This batter doesn't belong on fried fish. It was too light and just falling apart.

The basa fish was pretty good, light flakey and well cooked. What was interesting was the second piece was very salty compared to the first piece. Not sure why, I didn't add salt to anything on the plate.

Service was great. The place was packed, with wall to wall people, and the server was great, very nice and friendly.

I would order food again at The Parlor, the burgers and the chicken and beef skewers look good, but I wouldn't order the fish and chips again.

Taco Treat

Taco Treat
74 E Live Oak Ave
Arcadia
626-445-9240

I dropped in at Taco Lita for the first time in over six months. While I was eating, another group of people talked about Taco Treat, and they mentioned it wasn't that far away. A quick check of my GPS and it was about a mile or so away.

So I decided to give Taco Treat a try. Taco Treat has more items than Taco Lita; tostadas and fried burritos, but I wanted to see how their tacos stacked up to Taco Lita.





Beef taco, $2.00. The taco had lettuce, cheddar and jack cheese, and onions. The first thing I noticed about these tacos, was the shell just crumbled after my first bite. Then I noticed the dry, bland meat. At Taco Lita, you can taste the cheese, because they put a lot of cheese. At Taco Treat, you barely notice the cheese.

Not only is Taco Lita 25 cents cheaper, but it is a better taco.





When I was ordering, the guy asked me if this was my first time at Taco Treat. I told him yes. He said would I like to try their fried bean and cheese burrito, for free to first time customers. I said sure why not. I didn't take pictures until after ordering food, so there is no way he could have thought I was doing a review. So, I assume they offer a free fried burrito to all first time customers. The fried burrito is $3.50 on the menu.

A fried burrito is a chimichanga, but I guess calling it a fried burrito gives it character? Anyways I did like the light flakey outside, but there wasn't a lot of bean and cheese inside. It was mostly the tortilla. The small amount of bean and chese was pretty bland. The fried burrito was great, being that it was free, but I wouldn't order this again.

Service is very good. The guy who took my order was nice and friendly. But, I noticed the lady who made my tacos, never put the cell phone down, talking the entire time I was there, and while she was making the tacos.

Of the two Americanized taco stands in Arcadia, Taco Lita and Taco Treat. It's clear to me that Taco Lita is so much better than Taco Treat.

Slater's 50/50 Burgers-Closed

Slater's 50/50 Burgers 6362 E Santa Ana Canyon Rd Anaheim 714-685-1103 Slater's is known for the 50/50 burger patties. 50% of the patty is beef and 50% of the patty is bacon!! Yes, bacon!!! So I knew I wanted to give Slater's a try. I have been to many gourmet burger places in Orange County, in fact Slater's maybe my first. Slater's offers their line of signature burgers, a burger of the month; it was a chili cheese topped with Frito's, the day we went, and a build your own burger. The burgers come in 1/3lb, 1/2lb, and one pound sizes, and those sizes are after cooking. The signature burger at Slater's is The 50/50, but I'm not a fan of a fried egg on top of my burgers, so I got the Old Timey. The Old Timey, $9.45, has American cheese, grilled onions, green leaf lettuce, tomato and 1000 island dressing. It normally comes with an all beef patty, but I got the 50/50 patty instead, no extra charge. The 50/50 are cooked to well done, because of the bacon, but the patty has a lot of pink inside. I was wondering how a burger that is 50% bacon and 50% beef would taste. Now, I understand why they have to cook the burger through. But, I thought the 50/50 was a bit dry. Though, it is easy to notice the difference in flavors. You know you're not eating just beef. I liked the 50/50, but I wouldn't call it the best burger I've ever had. They could have put a bit more 1000 island dressing, but the toppings were fresh. Service, from the hostess to the server was outstanding!!! The hostesses were young, maybe high school aged girls. Whenever I see hostesses like that, I assume they are just there for the money and could care less about customer service. But, the hostess who helped me was great. She greeted me, which many other restaurants do not do, and was very nice and friendly. The server we had was great. Her name was Laura and she was very helpful and attentive. I don't think my glass of water ever went below half full, because she was always refilling drinks. Now the burgers did take a bit longer than I would expect, but that's not always the server's fault. And, besides, something like this can be overlooked, when the service was outstanding. I would go back to Slater's and try a beef burger or maybe, even try the 50/50 burger.

Chinese Friends Restaurant-Closed

Chinese Friends Restaurant 

984 N Broadway 

Los Angeles 

213-626-1837 

 Yes, the majority of the good Chinese restaurants has moved east to cities like San Gabriel, Arcadia, Rowland Heights. But, Chinatown still has some good Chinese restaurants. Chinese Friends is leaning towards becoming Americanized Chinese food, but I wouldn't rate Chinese Friends among the best Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, but a solid restaurant. Shanghai style fried thick noodles, $5.55. I did really like this dish. Chinese cabbage, sliced pork, and thick noodles, were well seasoned, full of flavor and left me wanting more. The noodles were cooked perfectly. The pork was lean, had good flavor with soy sauce, onions, and ginger. A steal and a great price for $5.55. Shrimp and broccoli, $10.95. As well seasoned and prepared as the noodles were, the shrimp and broccoli was bland and not good at all. This had a plain thin white sauce, that lacked any kind of seasoning and flavor. The shrimp was cut into smaller pieces making it look as though there was a lot of shrimp. The broccoli was crispy, though they could have stayed in the wok a bit longer. Besides being bland, I thought this was a bit overpriced! Service is good. Nice servers and owners. Chinese Friends is closed on Tuesdays. I learned the hard way, and planned a dinner with a friend, on a Tuesday, and they were closed!! I wouldn't be opposed to going back to Chinese Friends, but it wouldn't be my first choice for restaurants in Chinatown. If I had to pick my favorite restaurant in Chinatown, it would be Master Chef.