Otis Jackson's Soul Dog-Closed

Otis Jackson's Soul Dog
5166 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood
(818) 980-6847

As I mentioned in my review of Papaya King, which opened near Skooby's in Hollywood, Otis Jackson's Soul Dog opened near Vicious Dogs, in North Hollywood. What a great idea, combining soul food and hot dogs!!




I got the two piece fried chicken basket, $9.99 with double mac and cheese. You get your choice of pieces, so I got a breast and wing. Soul Dog mentions their hot dogs are all beef, natural casing with no nitrates and their chicken is free range chicken. One taste and you can tell the quality of the chicken and hot dogs!

The chicken was a bit salty but otherwise this exactly what fried chicken should be. Crunchy and flavorful on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. The skin was coated with a nice batter that gave it great flavor, though a bit salty. The inside of the breast piece was so moist and tender. WOW, I was very impressed.

The mac and cheese was a bit greasy, but had a lot of flavor. The macaroni was perfectly cooked and the cheese was baked right in.

The menu said hot water cornbread, and I was really looking forward to having hot water cornbread again, but I was told they no longer serve hot water cornbread. I like cornbread, but I LOVE hot water cornbread.



I also got the all beef hot dog with mustard and onions, $3.99. My game plan for any hot dog place, is to try a hot with minimal amount of toppings. If the hot dog isn't good, no amount of toppings can make up for it. But, the hot dog at Soul Dog is awesome; an all beef hot dog with a ton of snap and bursting with flavor. The spice mixture is right on, and you can taste the quality of the hot dog. The hot was lightly toasted and held up well. Next time I'll try a mac and cheese dog, a hot dog topped with mac and cheese. The hot dog is a bit pricey, but worth it. I would rather pay $3.99 for this quality hot dog, than that crap from Papaya King.

Service is great!! You are greeted when you walk into the restaurant by the owner, at least I believe he is the owner. He is very nice and welcoming. Then you are greeted by the cashier, who was a very nice young lady. In addition to greeting people, the owner brings your food to your table. The food came out quickly and was served hot.

I will be coming back to Otis Jackson's Soul Dog, very soon. I will try one of their signature hot dogs, but I may have to get another helping of their great fried chicken. What a great addition to the North Hollywood restaurant scene!!

Papaya King-Closed

Papaya King
1645 Wilcox Ave
Los Angeles
(323) 871-8799

With our worthless President, doing nothing about the bad economy, I was surprised to find that two hot dogs places have opened up near hot dogs places in Los Angeles, that The New Diner has reviewed. In North Hollywood, Otis Jackson's Soul Dog opened near Vicious Dogs.

And in Hollywood, Papaya King, a New York City institution has opened near Skooby's.



I got the original combo, $5.50, 2 hot dogs; one with New York onions and the other with New York onions and sauerkraut, and a papaya drink.

The hot dogs and buns are made by Sabrett, The hot dogs are ok, nothing great or memorable about them. The New York onions is a tomato based sauce mixed with onions. It's ok, nothing great. The sauerkraut was hot and had a nice tangy taste.

Service is terrible and slow. When I got the front of the line, the cashier, actually checked his text message, WTF? Who does this crap right in the middle of work? He was nice but checking your texts is just rude. I noticed that the menu price for my combo was $5.25 and I was charged $5.50, either the menu price is wrong or he charged me for a topping. It wasn't tax, because tax would have been about 50 cents.

Then I waited for my order, and even though there were at least six people working behind the counter, it took forever to get the orders out. I don't know why they are soodamn slow, but it's stupid. They need to train these employees much better and the employees need to work faster. I don't give a damn if this was their first week of business. They are sorely lack customer service!!

Skooby's beats this crappy place by a mile. There is no reason for me to return. To be honest, I would rather buy a $500 plane ticket to New York, and see the sites of New York than stop in at this sorry Papaya King in LA.

Allen's Take Out-Closed

Allen's Take Out
6541 Greenleaf Ave
Whittier
562-696-9151

Not sure what is it about Whittier, but bad service, at BBQ restaurants seems to be a theme. I got bad service at Red Oak BBQ and I got even worst service at Allen's Take Out. I found out about Allen's, and decided to give their Friday, all you can eat ribs night a try.



All you can eat spare ribs, $10.99. The ribs are cooked in a oven, there is no smoke flavor at all. It's ok, but nothing I can't do at home. I also got a bunch of rib tips, not actual ribs. The ribs were fairly tender, but lots and lots of gristle and fat. I got two more servings and both were more of the same, lots of gristle and fat, mostly rib tips. The bbq sauce was a tomato base sauce, that was bit too sweet, for my tastes.

As I mentioned service was terrible. I was greeted when I walked in but it went downhill from there. I never got any silverware, I had to wait and wait to get the second servings. Nobody bothered to ask how the ribs were. Just terrible service, maybe one of the worst I've ever had.

I would never go back to this place again. The fact that it's not real BBQ, I can live with. But terrible service should never be rewarded!!

Redballs Rock & Roll Pizza-Closed

Redballs Rock & Roll Pizza
6551 Topanga Canyon Blvd
Woodland Hills
818-348-1524

I guess Redballs Rock & Roll Pizza is what you get, when an owner combines his two loves; pizza and rock and roll. A small place with a stage in the back, that has a lot of performances every week. I heard good things about their New York style pizza, so I decided to give them a try.

With the high gas prices, I decided to take the train to Red Balls. I caught the Orange Line, which is a bus line from North Hollywood to Warner Center, which is about a two block to Red Balls. But, Red Balls wasn't much help, when I called for directions.



I got the Brooklyn pizza; sliced meatballs, pepperoni and Italian sausage, $19.99. All pies are 18in pizzas. I noticed when they made this pizza the cheese are slices of cheese, not shredded. It doesn't make a difference, I've just never seen that. The pizza was pretty good, but the crust was below average. It was thin, but it was almost too thin, it didn't hold up to the toppings.

The sliced meat balls were a bit bland, not much flavor. But, the Italians sausage was pretty good, with good flavor though it lacked fennel seeds. The pepperoni was run of the mill stuff. Overall a very average pizza.

Service was friendly but unprofessional and slow. I came in with a coupon and the first thing the lady said was "Those coupons are only good for dining in." Well no shit sherlock!!. What a rude way to greet customer. But, the lady was nice, and took my order. But, then another lady took over and she just didn't have a clue. She said it was her first day, but she was sooooo slow punching in my order and taking my money. I could have ran a damn marathon and still had time for a swim, before she got finished with the order. She was nice but they need to train their employees better.

When my pizza came, the guy who I believe is the owner, said he would get me some plates and napkins. Well, I could have finished that swim, by the time he got me a plate. He was all over the place, trying to get orders out and set up the stage for that night's performance. He was nice but very unorganized and not professional at all.

I would not waste my time going back to Redballs again. The pizza was average, at best and the service was too disorganized and unprofessional. I can't imagine going here when they have a band playing, it would just be way too loud.

Livonia Glatt Market

Livonia Glatt Market
8922 W Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles
(310) 271-4343

I have not been to Jeff's Gourmet Sausage Factory in a very long time. Since I was in the area, I decided to pick up some sausage to grill up for dinner this week. When I parked in the back of Jeff's, I saw Livonia Glatt Market. They were cooking up some kebobs, which they do only on Sunday. So, I decided that the kebobs will be my dinner tonight.

While the cooking area is outside, you go inside the store to place and pay for your order. They have beef, chicken and the ground beef and chicken kebobs.



I got the barg kebob, which is marinated beef, $9. The other kebob in the picture is the cornish hen, also $9. I thought they would make each order separate but they combined both orders. The orders come with a flat bread, which is like a tortilla, grilled tomatoes and basil and onions.

I'm guessing the barg kebob was a sirloin cut, because the beef was very tender and flavorful. I liked the large portion. This was well seasoned, I'm guessing they marinated this with some yogurt, and robust flavor came through.

Service disorganized. The cooks need to tell customers the process. You have to pay inside and then bring your receipt back to the grill area. It took a big long to get the food, considering they had a lot of cooks and grills. It took awhile for my order to get onto the grill. The young lady at the cash register was average, they went through the motions, like a robot. Not much help at all.

I did like the kebobs and would go back, but I can see where first timers maybe turned off by the ordering process and not go back. I hope they fix the ordering process because the kebobs are very good.

Tijuana's Tacos

Tijuana's Tacos
485 W Holt Ave
Ste A
Pomona
(909) 469-4730

I knew there had to be some good tacos places in Pomona. A quick search online, led me to Tijuana's Tacos on Holt Blvd. It's a bit tough to find, because a huge tree blocks the building. But, it's well worth your time to find it, because Tijuana's Tacos has some great tacos.




All tacos are $1.35, I got asada, carnitas, and el pastor. The tacos come with cilantro, onions, and guacamole, which I asked for it on the side. When my tacos arrived, I was very pleased with the huge amount of meats on the tacos. They are well worth the price!!

In the first picture: asada taco is on the left and the el pastor taco is on the right.

Second picture: carnitas taco on the left and asada taco on the right.

The asada was my least favorite, because it had too much fat and gristle. The little lean meat was ok, decent flavor, but I've had better.

The carnitas was a bit dry, but overall I liked it. Well seasoned and nice flavor. I think this could be a very good example of carnitas, so I'll come back again soon and give it another try.

The el pastor was awesome!!! The el pastor is broiled in a vertical broiler and cooked to perfection. Tender, flavorful, well seasoned, and just awesome.

Service was very good. The lady who took my order was very nice and helpful. When I asked what meat was cooking in the vertical broiler, she said the el pastor and then gave me a sample to try. I didn't ask for it, but she was nice enough to let me try it.

I'm glad I don't have to go very far to get good tacos. I'll come back to Tijuana's Tacos, anytime.

25 Degrees

May 1, 2011. At 7:46pm, I got a text message saying that bastard had been killed by U.S. Navy SEALS!!! I'm always proud to be an American, but some days, that pride shows more. I was overjoyed with happiness when I heard that American military forces killed that bastard!!!!!



The bullet that killed that bastard, was brought to him COURTESY of the RED, WHITE, and BLUE!!!!!!

After I heard the news last night, I drove around town and looked at all the banners honoring those who are serving in the military. I drove by the local fire station. I had Toby Keith's Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue playing. I am not ashamed to say I had tears running down my cheeks. There were times I thought I would never see this day. But, I'm so glad that justice has been done!!!



But really, it's a bitter sweet day. I think about all the families who lost a son or daughter in the wars after 9-11. I think about all the families who still have a son or daughter, fighting overseas and wish they come back home safe and soon!!! Of course, I think about all the families who lost a loved one, on 9-11. I hope now, with that bastard being killed, all the families affected by 9-11 can start healing.

So, today May 2, 2011, I wanted to go into Los Angeles. I wanted to see that skyline. I wanted to be around a large group of fellow Americans.

But, the first place I went was the Los Angeles Fire Department's training center, near Dodger Stadium. The center has a Memorial, a piece of steel from the South Tower of the World Trade Center, to honor the 343 New York City firefighters who lost their lives on 9-11.





Then I wanted to have a burger. There is nothing more American, than a burger. So I decided to finally go to 25 Degrees, which is in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Another entry in the gourmet burger battle of LA.


25 Degrees
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
7000 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles
323-785-7244






Burger #1, caramelized onions, bacon, 1000, arugula, crescenza & prelilbato gorgonzola cheese, $12. This is a great, great burger. The first thing I noticed, was the two huge strips of bacon, pointing out of the burger, that's always a plus. And this bacon was awesome, thick cut, full of smokey flavor and just wonderful. The meat used for the burger is some good quality beef. Moist and full of flavor. The thing I loved about the meat was it was served hot, I could feel how hot the burger was. Nothing was prepared and sitting under heat lamps.

The bun was a bit too well done, the crust was like a French roll that crumbling, but the bun held up very well to the all the toppings.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of onions on my burgers, but these onions, along with the two cheeses, crescenza & prelilbato gorgonzola cheese, just made a wonderful combination. The crescenza had a sharp taste to it, when the prelilbato gorgonzola added a salty flavor to the burger. I thought they put a bit too much of the cheese, sometimes you can get too much of a good thing. But, the large amount a cheese, helped hide the taste of arugula, which I hate. But with with some of the minor flaws, this is a wonderful burger.

Now, the server asked what side I wanted, and I picked the onion rings, which are normally $4. The way the server asked about the side, it seemed as though a side came with the burger. But, I noticed other people did not get a side with their burger. Then I noticed, I wasn't charged for the side. So, it maybe a special on Monday or she just forgot. Anyways, the onion rings were lightly battered and fried to a golden brown, they were wonderful!!! This is well worth the $4 price tag and a steal at the $2 happy hour price.

Service was OK. The server came quickly to my table and was very nice and friendly. She answered all my questions, I didn't realize the Hollywood location is opened 24hours and she said try the sausage for breakfast. Hell, I love the bacon, so I may just have to have both the bacon and sausage for breakfast.

But, after she brought my drink, she stopped at a table with a guy waiting for his to go order, and stood there and talked to him for about ten minutes. That is very unprofessional. Yes, it didn't really affect me, my drink had just been delivered, my food when it arrived was served hot and I didn't have to wait any longer than normal for the food to arrive, but it may have affected other people in the restaurant.

I would go back to 25 Degrees for the burger, anytime. I may build my own burger, their other two burgers don't sound appealing to me; one has prosciutto and pesto-two things I hate, and the other has green chili. I will go back for breakfast.