RA Sushi-Tustin

RA Sushi
2401 Park Ave
Tustin
714-566-1700

I went to the RA Sushi in Scottsdale, AZ and was very impressed with the quality of the sushi. So when I heard that RA opened a location in Tustion, I decided to try their happy hour. You can find their happy hour menu here. http://www.rasushi.com/ra2006.4xm.swf

I had the spicy tuna roll, $3.75 and the shrimp tempura roll, $4.75. The spicy tuna was very spicy, I needed lots of water after eating this. It was very fresh and tasty.

The shrimp tempura roll was also very fresh. But I thought the shrimp was a bit small. I know it's happy hour prices and they gotta make their money somehow.

Service was very good. Happy Hour is served in the bar area. The server was very nice and friendly and helpful.

I would go back to RA Sushi again. But they are on the pricey side for dinner. But I think it's worth it because they have very good quality sushi.

Yunnan Garden- Hacienda Heights

Yunnan Garden
1229 S Hacienda Blvd
Hacienda Heights
626-330-8145

Yunnan Garden has been opened for four months. What's interesting is that before they did some renovations to the building, the same location used to house a restaurant, China Garden. But what's interesting is that Yunnan Garden has the same phone number as China Garen. Maybe the same owners using a different name?

Anyways I ordered the shrimp fried rice, $6.96, chicken and mushrooms, $7.95, and the shrimp with garlic sauce, $9.95. The shrimp fried rice came straight from the wok to our table, it was so hot. There were scrambled eggs, green onions, carrots and of course shrimp, which were a good size and there were plenty of them. This dish overall was good but I thought it was a bit too greasy. They could have used less oil.

The chicken and mushroom was a bit of a downer. They chicken was tender and thinly sliced but this was very bland. Not much flavor to this dish. I would not order this again.

I would order the shrimp with garlic sauce. This was a great dish. It's marked as hot but it wasn't that hot at all. They used some kind of red sauce and lots of garlic, bamboo shoots, green onions, red pepper and seaweed. It had so much flavor, just bursting with it. A steal at $9.95.

Service was pretty good. The place wasn't that crowded and there were three servers who came to our table. They were friendly and helpful.

I would go back to Yunnan Garden. The food and the prices are good. I think this place matches up to many of the Chinese restaurants in Rowland Heights.

Grub-Closed

Grub 911 Seward St Los Angeles, CA 90038 323-461-3663 On one side of the side are movie studios and sound stages. The other side of the street are houses with the corner house a restaurant!!! A popular restaurant too. On Sundays they open at 9am. We got that about 8:50 am and within five minutes there were 10-12 people in line with us. The first time we came, we got there at 11am and they told us the wait would be 90 minutes long!!!! We did not stay. We saw this on the Food Network. I think Rachel Ray. Now she's a great cook. Her 30 minute meals are great. But as for her choice of restaurants, they leave a lot to be desired. I ordered the Mamacita Breakfast Burrito. $8.95, scrambled eggs, chorizo, cheddar cheese, and potatoes wrapped in a flour tortilla. Our order took a bit longer than I thought it would. There were at least 20 people in the restaurant but I thought they could have been faster with our order. When it finally arrived, I was tricked into believing that burrito was huge. It is huge but only because of the way they cut the potatoes, very large pieces. There isn't that much chorizo or eggs. What little egg and chorizo was very good. The chorizo had a nice spicy flavor. The scrambled eggs were fully cooked and fluffy. Service was good, except for the longer than expected wait for our food to be cooked. The server was friendly and attentive to our needs. I would not go back to Grub. I think the food is good but nothing great. But most of all I think it's on the pricey side. They have a three egg breakfast for $7.95 but what about bacon or sausage? That would put you back $4.95. $12.90 for a three eggs and bacon breakfast? Not worth it.

The Castaway

The Castaway
1250 Harvard Rd.
Burbank
818-848-6691

I went here for a birthday party. They offered a limited menu choice for our big party of about 16 people.

I ordered the NY steak, topped with blue cheese, shiitake mushrooms with a red wine demi-glaze with seasonal veggies. For our group we got a trip to their salad bar and NY cheesecake for dessert, all for $40 tax and tip included. The regular price of the NY steak is $29.99. So with a salad and dessert that $40 was a good deal.

The salad bar was OK but they had either a spinach salad or mixed green salad, both of which I do not like at all. So I put together some tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots and some ranch dressing. All the items I had were fresh. But I wish they would just have iceberg lettuce.

The steak came out pretty quickly. I ordred mine medium rare and got medium rare. The steak was tender and juicy. But it wasn't as flavorful as other steaks I've had. I would say they use USDA choice beef. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great and I don't feel it was worth the price. I mean I could go to the market and get a steak and BBQ it myself for much less.

The dessert was NY cheesecake, which was nice, creamy and tasty. Their menu lists dessert startings at $5.95.

Service during dinner was great. The servers were attentive, friendly and helpful. But what isn't great is the parking situation. The restaurant sits atop a hill in Burbank. When you turn into the place you think you're going to drive up the hill to the restaurant. But with so many Christmas parties going on this time of year, the valet parking was closed. So there was a parking attendent that had us turn into a very small parking lot and a shuttle was going to take us to the restaurant. Well after we park and get out, two shuttles leave. Also the attendant who directed us to the lot, left and all the cars were driving up the hill. I said screw this and got back into the car and drove further up the hill. There was another attendant directing us to a larger parking lot. We parked and while the first two shuttles were filled quickly, two more shuttles came within ten minutes and we got to the restaurant with no problems. After dinner the shuttles were right there waiting for us in front of the restaurant. We didn't have to pay for parking or the shuttle. But it makes more sense to fill the larger parking lot, that is closer to the restaurant than that tiny parking lot.

I would only go back to Castaway for drinks and the view. What a great view!!! I feel that the food is very average and overpriced. I don't think the food is worth the high prices they charge and the view, while great, doesn't make up for the very average food.

Catalina Fish Kitchen-Closed

Catalina Fish Kitchen
19171 Magnolia
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
714-963-9921

Catalina Fish Kitchen is a damn good place to get any type of seafood taco. Every Tuesday is Taco Tuesday and tacos are anywhere from half off to 25 cents off.

I ordered the tiger shrimp, scallops, and lobster taco. The tiger and scallops taco were $4, regular price, $4.29 and the lobster was the regular price $4.29. All tacos come on flour tortilla, with cabbage, cheddar and jack cheese and cliantro. For no additional charge you can get corn tortilla. Then you have a full salsa bar selection to add to your taco. All tacos are chargrilled but you can also ask for seven other seasonings including tomato herb and white wine sauce, olive oil and thyme, soy oil and lemon, and lemon garlic. I had all three tacos chargrilled and only added salsa.

I loved the tiger shrimp taco. There were about three huge tiger shrimps, chargrilled to perfection. The cabbage and cheese were fresh. With just a little salsa this is one of the best tacos I've had in a long time.

The scallops weren't so good. They were fresh and everything but somethings just don't belong in a taco and scallops are it. Maybe it's the texture or flavor but whatever it is, scallops don't work well with tacos.

The lobster taco was OK. Nothing special about it. The lobster was the slippery lobster version. They are a bit tougher and not as sweet as the Maine lobster. Again this is the case where this type of seafood doesn't belong in a taco. I didn't like the combination.

Service was OK. The people are nice and friendly but they orders can take longer than they should. I ordered the lobster taco after I ordered the tiger shrimp and scallops tacos, and they completely forgot about the order. Then it took another ten minutes before I got the taco. Now the people were nice about things but I think service needs to be faster.

I would go back to Catalina Fish Kitchen and try some of their other seafood, salmon, mahi mahi, and their seasonings. I would not order the scallops or lobster. But their tiger shrimp tacos are a winner.

Pita Pita-Closed

Pita Pita 

927 E. Colorado Blvd #101 

Pasadena 

626-356-3099 

 

Have you ever driven along a major street and seen a restaurant but never stopped in and have dinner? Well I drive along Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena many times. I've passed by Pita Pita at least 50 times but never stopped in and ate. So I decide it was time to eat at Pita Pita. This is an order at the counter and they bring your dinner to your table. This is the first Middle Eastern food place that is own by a Mexican, that I've been to. The owner was sitting down and having dinner and speaking Spanish on the phone. I got the chicken kabob plate for $8.95. All dinners include salad, rice, beans and pita bread. After a few minutes the chicken kabob arrives. It smells very good. When I cut a piece of chicken it notice how moist the white meat chicken is. When I have a bite, it is very moist and flavorful. It was a bit on the tangy side for me though. I don't know what seasonings they use but it just too tangy for me. But I do think the chicken is very moist. The salad was very fresh but the dressing the put on top was just too sour for me. The rice and beans were hot and fresh. Service is pretty good. The lady taking the order was nice and helpful. I wouldn't go back to Pita Pita for the chicken kabobs. The kabob isn't bad but it's just not for me. I would be open to try other things on the menu like the chicken shawerma or the garlic chicken. I also think it's a bit pricey. $8.95 for one kabob? Many places for about the same price give you two kabobs. But they do serve good sized portions.

Gaslamp

Gaslamp
6251 E Pacific Coast Highway
Long Beach
562-596-4718

Gaslamp is a huge restaurant on PCH and Loynes in Long Beach. They have live bands most weekends. But their main draw for me was a $5 beer and burger Wednesday.

You don't have much choice, the beer is Tecate beer in a can and they burger is just half pound burger with lettuce, onions and tomato on a potato bun. Cheese is 50 cents extra and if you want fries instead of the potato chips it's $1 extra. I got cheddar cheese on my burger. The burger is huge. It reminds me of Carl's Jr $6 burgers. The meat though is very dry, they charred the hell out of my burger. The server didn't ask how I would like my burger cooked and I simply forgot. But this burger was just too well done for me. Another thing I didn't like was that the burger wasn't especially hot. It was lukewarm. They also didn't toast the bun.

The server was nice and friendly enough but she should have asked me how I would like the burger cooked. When I got there, it wasn't that crowded so she came around often to refill water and ask if I needed anything.

The regular price of a burger at Gaslamp is $11. It's not worth that price. For $5.50 a cheeseburger is a fair price. But make sure you ask how you would like to have your burger cooked.

Overall I kept getting the feeling I was eating a Carl's Jr $6 burger and why would I go out to Long Beach for that? There is nothing special about this burger but for special it's a good deal. If I was in the area I could go back to Gaslamp for their $5 beer and burger special. But I wouldn't make an extra trip out there.

Barn Burner BBQ-Closed

Barn Burner BBQ
1000 S. Fair Oaks Ave
Pasadena
626-403-7427

I've read so many things about Barn Burner Texas BBQ in Pasadena. Some sang it's praises, others thought it was among the worst BBQ around. I'll tell you where I stand later in this review. But without questions this is one of the most expensive BBQ around. Barn Burner is actually owned by the people who own the El Cholo chain of Mexican restaurants.

I took a look at their huge menu and they have Choice combos or Signature Combos. Choice Combos are where you choose between four different meats and two sides.

Signature Combos are basically racks of ribs, beef, baby backs and St. Louis style pork ribs and larger combos.

What surprised me was that they didn't list the St.Louis style pork ribs on the Choice Combo menu. If they had I would have ordered a two meat combo for $15.40. But instead I ordered the half a pound of baby backs, $12.75 and half a pound of beef ribs. $6.25.

The baby backs are terrible. They lack any smoke flavor and had lots of fat, too much for baby backs. I could have bought a rack of ribs and cooked them in the oven and done a better job.

Their only saving grace is the beef ribs. They were very meaty and tender with a nice flavor, not real smoked but a good flavor. They were among the better beef ribs I've had.

Service is good. I ordered this to go and I got service quickly.

So where do I stand on Barn Burner? For the baby back ribs, I agree it's among the worst ribs I've ever had and makes me think they should still to cooking Mexican food. But the beef ribs are not only cheaper but taste much better and are worth the $6.25 price. Like I mentioned before they are a very expensive BBQ place and the quality of BBQ you get, isn't worth the very high prices.

I want to try their St. Louis style pork ribs and see how they are. I wish they So that maybe the only reason why I go back to Barn Barner, otherwise there is no reason to go back.

Amaranta Cocina Mexicana-Closed

Amaranta Cocina Mexicana
6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Suite 1029
Canoga Park
818-610-3599

Billed as an authentic Mexican City Mexican food, Amaranta Cocina Mexicana is really an overpriced Mexican restaurant. The restaurant is in the Topanga Mall or whatever that damn corporate name all malls seem to use now. That should have been my clue about the food.

I ordered the carnitas with double Mexican rice, $14. The carnitas came out and they were very dry and lacked any flavor. They really need to spice their food up and not overcook the damn pork. I also thought the portions were very small for the price you pay. The Mexican rice was also bland with no flavor and was most rice. The menu says the rice has tomatoes and veggies but you had to dig around to find the tomato and corn.

Service was below average. It was a very slow night and I first went to the bar for a drink. The bartender carded me. Now I am 39 and don't look like some 20 year old. I don't get carded much at all. But for whatever reason I got carded. Now I don't really mind but I do have issues when I'm the only person being carded. She didn't card anybody else. Why was I singled out? She also was our server and she was slow as hell. Again it was a slow night. There wasn't anybody at the bar for most of the night. Four people came during out meal and they stayed for a drink and left. What the hell took her so long to take our order, get our food, clear our table and get our check. She was friendly but not a good server.

I would not go back to Amaranta Cocina Mexicana again. I can get a much better carnitas plate for about half the price, so why should I bother going out there?

Grandpa Fred's BBQ-Closed

Grandpa Fred's Bar-b-que
21040 Victory Blvd.
Woodland Hills, 91367
818-593-4269

When I heard about Grandpa Fred's BBQ I wanted to try it. First of all the owner grew up on a pig farm and grew so fond of pigs, he couldn't bare the thought of slaughtering them. So there is no pork at all at Grandpa Fred's. At first I was a bit upset because I love pork ribs. But he promised me his beef ribs would make me forget about pork ribs. A big task but I was willing to give it a chance.

I ordered the Angus beef ribs for $13.00. I actually paid $12 and I'll tell you about that later. You're suppose to get four ribs with this order but I got seven ribs. The ribs come with two sides and I got a very dry, mac and cheese. The ribs as you can see are huge, but that's normal because a cow is bigger than a pig. But these ribs were very meaty, just a ton of meat on them all. But the outter part was charred and dry. You needed to drown them in BBQ sauce to make it easier to chew. But once inside the beef was very tender with tons of hickory smoked flavor. The BBQ sauce they use is a tomato based sauce and is very mild, there is no kick to it.

The first time I went to Grandpa Fred's was about three years ago. I met the owner and he was great. Very friendly and helpful. He even gave me a rib to try while I was waiting for my order. I was so impressed with the service and ribs, I wanted to come by here more often, even though it a long drive. Well I finally get back to Grandpa Fred's and the service was bad. I went to the counter to order. Nobody was there, so I waited and waited. There was a man, dressed in suit and tie, talking to somebody who I couldn't see. After waiting for about ten minutes, I finally got that man's attention. The kid he was talking to got up and came to take my order. He only charged me $12 for the ribs that are listed on the menu at $13. I figured that was fine since I had to wait for at least five minutes before he took my order. Then after ten minutes of waiting for my order somebody comes out and said they ran out of corn, so I asked for double mac and cheese. Then after another ten minutes of waiting, I finally get my order!!! What the hell took so long. I mean they weren't busy, about four other people in the dining area. The kid who took my order was nice and everything but he seemed to be interested in talking to that guy than providing customer service. One of the servers actually sat down and watched a DVD after dropping off food at one table. Just sat there and kicked back like she was at the movies. Now they got a great HD projection TV that takes up the entire wall. But come on you're not a movie theatre, you're a restaurant. Take care of the customers.

While it's impossible for me to forget about BBQ pork ribs, these beef ribs are very good. Though they need to work on the burnt/charred on the outside. I would go back to Grandpa Fred's but I would either call in the order or hope that the kid who helped me wasn't there. The food is good but the service does vary depending on who is there.

Update June 14, 2009



I went back to Grandpa Fred's and ordered combination plate with filet mignon and ribs, $19. Overall I would rate them a solid B. But the ribs weren't as good as I had before. The ribs had a lot of gristle and some parts were almost burnt and very chewy. I also noticed that I got only three ribs when somebody else at my table got four.

The filet was like the ribs, some parts were great other parts burnt. The good parts were very tender and flavorful. But the burnt parts just weren't doing it for me. While the ratio was about 80-20, good parts to bad parts, it is not a good way to make an impression.

I was a disappointment in my return trip to Grandpa Fred's. It is still good, but the food shouldn't be so inconsistent.

Bollini's-Closed

Bollini's
2315 S. Garfield Ave
Monterey Park
323-722-7600

In Monterey Park you think of Chinese food. But to my surprise there is a great pizza place that has been opened for four months, Bollini's. They serve what is called Neapolitan style pizza. They are strict requirements for this style of pizza, one of them being a wood burning oven and as far as I can tell Bollini meets all these requirements. For me, as long as the pizza is good, I don't give a damn.

I got the Rocco, sauce, cheese, pepperoni and basil, $8.50 for the small 12" size. Well this pizza was so good. Gooey melted cheese with spicy pieces of pepperoni on a very thin crip crust. WOW, WOW, WOW. I have found the best Neapolitan style pizza in LA. I wasn't crazy about the basil but otherwise this is a great pizza and what a steal at $8.50!!!

Service is OK. They were a little slow in getting our pizza ready. It took about 30 minutes. This is a small, narrow space and when we were there, it was noisy as hell. Two guys were yelling at each other and they were sitting across the table from each other. Lower your damn voices. There was also a party of 6 or 8 and another party of about 5 people that seemed to slow the service down. The girl who took the order and the guy, who I think is the owner, we both friendly and helpful but they didn't seem to be able to handle this crowd too well.

I would go back to Bollini's but I think I would get my order to go. Dining in is too noisy and hectic. Not relaxing at all.

Lascari's

Lascari's
16255 E Whittier Blvd
Whittier
562-943-1113

Lascari's has been opened since 1970. They have three locations, a bakery and deli, a grill and a restaurant. After visiting their restaurant, there is no need for me to go to the bakery or grill.

I ordered their half spaghetti and half ravioli with two meatballs, $10.99, which includes your choice of soup or salad. I picked the salad with ranch dressing. One of the most interesting salads I've had. Mostly lettuce but they came with both kidney and garbonzo beans. A nice touch, very fresh and healthy.

The meatballs were good. Large ground beef mixed with good spices. The spaghetti was cooked just right but the meat sauce was a bit sour tasting though. It could have used more herbs and spices or just adding more sugar. But not too bad. If I just ordered the spaghetti and meatballs I would have been fine.

But I made the huge mistake of ordering the ravioli. You get a choose of beef or cheese ravioli and I picked the beef. The ravioli was terrible. I would have been better opening up a can of ravioli. The ravioli was hard and bland. Not taste at all. It seemed as though the ravioli had been sitting in a pan the entire day and they tried to quickly heat it up and put it on my plate. It was terrible. The beef was fine but it was cold!!!! What the hell is that?

Service was good though we rarely saw the server. The busboys came to our table to refill drinks and give us more bread. The server only came to our table to take our order, drop off the food, came back twice to see if dinner was ok and to give us the check. The busboys did a lot of work and they deserve the tip. Not the server, who was pleasant and all but hardly worked.

I would not go to Lascari's again. Terrible food and while the prices are fair, why does it matter if the food sucks?

Baby Blues BBQ

Baby Blues BBQ
444 Lincoln Bl
Venice
310-396-7675

Do you want bad BBQ at high prices? Go to Baby Blues BBQ and that's exactly what you'll get. I have no idea how this place has stayed in business for over four years. Actually yes I do. That area, Venice, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, is lilly white and they think BBQ is Tony Roma's. Baby Blues ranks just above Tony Roma's.

I ordered the half rack of Memphis style ribs, $10.95. Ok that price is good but look how small the ribs are. There is barely any meat on there. Give me a damn break. Go to Phillips and see how a real BBQ rib should be done. They ribs are lightly smoked, notice there isn't that classic smoke ring and then finished over a grill, notice all those charred marks on the ribs. The meat is fairly tender but lacks flavor. You need to put some of their nasty BBQ sauce for any kind of flavor. The BBQ sauce is a tomato based sauce but lacks any kind of flavor. Your local bottled BBQ sauce would be much better.

I couldn't believe there was a line for this place. One group of four must have been there for at least 30 minutes. Baby Blues isn't worth crossing the street for, much less waiting 30 minutes.

Service was pretty good. I had a to go order and the server was nice and helpful. It took a little longer than I expected to get my order but it was crowded.

I would not go back to Baby Blues. I would go back to Luke Walton's BBQ place, Joey's Smokin BBQ, before going back to Baby Blues. And Joey's isn't anything great. Save your money and don't even bother going to Baby Blues. Overpriced, terrible BBQ.

Panera Bakery

Panera Bakery
3521 E Foothill Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91107
626-351-8272

OK I know I'm not big on chains but I heard about Panera Bakery opening up and I figured why not give them a try.

I got there at lunch time, so instead of pastries I ordered a bacon turkey bravo sandwich, $6.39, smoked turkey breast, bacon, smoked Gouda, lettuce, tomatoes & signature dressing, on tomato basil bread. The turkey was stacked high and was very fresh. The smoked gouda cheese added a nice flavor to the smokieness of the turkey and bacon.

Service was very good. The cashier who took my order, was very nice and friendly. But be aware the lines can be very long.

I would not go back to Panera. While the food is good the prices are too high. There are much better places where you can get a better sandwich at better prices. Plus I'm not a big fan of chains. Support the locally owned restaurants.

Colombo's

Colombo's
1833 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles
323-254-9138

I heard about Colombo's about three years ago. I drove past it when I went to the Blue Hen last year and Casa Bianca, this past summer. So finally I decided to go to Colombo's for dinner.

This old style restaurant has red vinyl seats, wood planeling and grandmas as servers. What I didn't know was they have live entertainment, the night I went they had a nice jazz band.

I didn't realize Colombo's billed itself as an Italian steakhouse. So I decided to try their cracked peppeer crusted New York strip steak, $17.95. The steak was topped with crispy onions, in a red wine sauce and came with parmesan veggies and a baked potato, but I asked for double veggies. The steak was cooked perfectly, medium rare. It had a very nice flavor and tenderness. It wasn't melt in your mouth, tender but it was very tender and good for the price. But I didn't taste any of the red wine sauce. I tasted a lot of the cracked pepper which added to the flavor of the steak. The veggies were great though I only ate the carrots and broccoli. They were cooked just right. A little crispy but not too crispy and just soft enough that you didn't feel like you were eating raw veggies.

The sauteed shrimp served scampi style looked very good. Huge, jumbo shrimp in a white wine sauce served with linguini. The chicken parmesan looked so good. Two huge breaded breast pieces topped with mozzarella and tomato sauce served with spaghetti.

The service was just plain terrible. The old lady was nice enough. But I asked for steak sauce and never got it. We asked for lemons for the shrimp scampi and never got it. After she dropped off our dinners, she didn't come back until she dropped off the check. The busboy refilled our drinks. She didn't come back to ask how everything was. She wasn't rude when she was actually at our table but we weren't getting any attention from her.

I would go back to Colombo's but I would not want the server we had. She was just plain terrible. But the food and prices are very good.