Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
380 K St
San Diego
619-237-1155

Ok, I'm not the type of guy who likes eating at chain restaurants. Why go to a chain, when there maybe a restaurant just as good? I'll admit, I didn't know certain restaurants were chains when I at there. If I see a new restaurant when I'm out for dinner, I'll just stop in and have a meal there. I don't do research on a restaurant while I'm out and about. But, if I do have time to research a restaurant, I will see if it is a chain and then put that restaurant on the back burner of my "to try" list.

I went to this same exact Flemings about five years ago. I had an enjoyable meal and figured since I was in San Diego I would try them again. Fleming's is running a promotion; if you make reservations online, you get $25 off your meal, if you spend $50 or more and then you get a $25 off card that is good for the first three months in 2012!! A great deal.

Flemings is located in the Gaslamp area of downtown San Diego. It's a fairly big sized restaurant that is dimly lit. It has a nice modern steakhouse decor.

Since I was dining alone, I had to order over $50 of food, so I got an appetizer, Jumbo lump crabcakes, $16.95, with roasted red pepper and lime butter sauce. Jumbo lump are the second highest grade of crabmeat, similar to a choice cut of beef. Jumbo lump are white meat from the two muscles near the swimming legs of the crab. They should be nice and sweet.

I hate crabcakes that are nothing but fillers, breadcrumbs or other junk that doesn't belong in a crabcake. When I cut into this crabcake, nothing but beautiful white meat!! The crabcakes were beautifully browned on the outside, and it wasn't heavy with butter like some place do. It was a nice light sear and a nice texture to the crabcakes. The meat was well seasoned, if they don't use Old Bay seasoning, they use most of the same ingredients like Old Bay. The roasted red pepper and lime butter sauce added a nice cool flavor to the crabcakes. But, I could have eaten the crabcakes alone and been very happy.

If anybody complains about the price of the crabcakes, they are just clueless. Jumbo lump crab meat isn't cheap and as long as the crab cakes have little fillers, this crabcake was about 98% jumbo lump, 2% bread crumps and parsley, it's well worth the price.

Well, a steakhouse, no matter how good their appetizers maybe, has to serve good quality steaks that are cooked perfectly. I got the main filet, $41.95, cooked medium. After telling the server I wanted my steak cooked medium, he said hot pink inside. I told him yes! I like how the server make sure how your steak is going to be cooked. Some people have different definitions of how a medium cooked steak should be.

Anyways a few minutes later, I got a perfectly cooked filet!! This steak was very well seasoned. Some may say it was a little heavy on the pepper, but I like a good amount of pepper on my steak. And Fleming's uses prime steaks, the top cut of beef. So the steak was tender, melt in your mouth, good!! A very good quality steak, well worth the price.

Service was great!! The server and busboy came by my table often, and I wasn't lacking for anything.

I would gladly go back to this Fleming's in San Diego anytime. A great meal with two perfectly cooked items and great service!! What more can you ask for?

Juan Pollo

Juan Pollo
300 S. Garey Ave
Pomona, CA 91766
(909) 469-4779

If readers of The New Diner read my review of the First McDonalds, they know that the owner of Juan Pollo brought the site of the first McDonalds and are using the site as their corporate offices. I have passed by a lot of Juan Pollo restaurants but never went in.

So I finally decided to go try Juan Pollo and see how their rotisserie chicken is. At the Pomona location, they have a huge sign out front, where you buy one whole chicken, you get one free. Then you walk inside and you see the fine print, with the purchase of a large side.

I noticed the regular prices for whole chicken, $8 and $16 for two chickens, which includes tortillas and salsa.

For the Tuesday special a whole chicken is $10.99 and the cost of a large side is $2.99. My total, two chickens and a large side-potato salad, was $15.34. So the Tuesday special is basically, the regular price for two chicken, your bonus is a side is included.





I noticed the chickens on rotisserie and thought they were pretty small. They are small. But they are well seasoned and has a lot of flavor. I think they use a rub of salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and other spices. The breast meat was a bit dry but the other pieces were nice and moist.

I didn't take a picture of the potato salad, but it was pretty good. The potatoes were cut so smooth, it was almost like mashed potatoes and I like that. I hate lumpy potato salad. But, the potato salad was a bit salty and had a heavy onion flavor.

Service was OK. There wasn't anything outstanding or anything bad about the service. But, as I was taking a picture of the outside, some delivery man, asked why I was taking pictures? Why the hell is it any of his damn business? If a business is proud of the quality of their product they would be proud that somebody was taking pictures.

I do think Juan Pollo serves good rotisserie chicken, but the chickens are small and a bit pricey. I can go to Costco and get a bigger, better chicken for less.

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.

Arby's-Pomona-Closed

Arby's
2250 N Garey Ave
Pomona
909-596-1644

I love history and historical things. So when David Allen wrote a story about this Arby's, I wanted to do a review and mention the history of Arby's to readers of The New Diner.

Why is this Arby's historic? It is one, of about ten, remaining Arby's that have BOTH the "Conestoga wagon" building and the ten-gallon hat sign. There are still many places that have the ten-gallon hat sign, but very few with the both!! In fact there is an Arby's in Azusa that has the ten-gallon hat sign, but the building is a modern structure. An interesting note, Pomona's second Arby's location, at 1175 E. Holt Ave., which is now King's Teriyaki, still has the chuck wagon building, but the 10-gallon hat is long gone.

This Arby's opened up in January, 1970 and is still going strong. But, Allen infers that this Arby's maybe renovated very soon.

I won't really go into detail about the food at Arby's. It is what it is. I only got two items on their $1 value menu. Both were fine.



I got the Jr. roast beef sandwich, $1. Filled with thinly sliced roast beef. Everybody knows this is processed roast beef. But it it what it is.



I also got the ham and cheese melt, $1. Filled with thinly sliced ham and melted, what seemed like nacho cheese, this sandwich was fine.

Service was pretty good. The manager of the store took my order. I was a bit surprised because it's usually a regular employee who takes the orders.

I hope Arby's keeps this location, exactly like it is. I love seeing the combination of the ten-gallon hat sign and the Conestoga wagon building.

Update Oct. 28, 2010: I got an email, from a loyal The New Diner reader, who said there is another Arby's with the chuckwagon building and ten-gallon hat sign combo, in Huntington Beach. Just imagine, two of the ten remaining locations, with the chuckwagon building and ten gallon hat sign, within about 45 minutes of each other. I will do a review of the Huntington Beach location soon.

Update Nov. 30, 2010- Arby's in Huntington Beach.

I drove by the Huntington Beach location and just took pictures of the building. All Arby's are the same, no reason to eat there again.

But I also found another location that has the chuckwagon building and ten-gallon hat sign combo, in Buena Park or La Palma on Lincoln. Hopefully, I will have pictures of that location, soon.



Arby's
7942 Edinger Ave
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
714-842-5280

Numero Uno Pizza Pasta & More-Closed

Numero Uno Pizza Pasta & More
3562 E Foothill Blvd
Pasadena
626-577-1723

Update June 3, 2010. Thanks to a reader JH's comment, I got Numero Uno confused with Pizzeria Uno. Pizzeria Uno is a Chicago legend. Many claim Pizzeria Uno has the best deep dish pizza. Numero Uno Pizza is a different company.

Across Foothill Blvd, from Panera Bakery, is Numero Uno Pizza. I know it's a chain but I wanted to try it. When I reviewed Panera Bakery, I also didn't realize it was also a chain. I really do hate feeding the chains. But I wanted to try Numero Uno for a long time.

I printed out a coupon for a large one topping, pepperoni, "deep dish" pizza and chicken wings, $16.41. The coupon is good for delivery or take out, only.



Eight spicy wings came in an order. The wings were baked, they are not deep fried. Pretty spicy but nothing overwhelming. But there was a lot of batter on the wings but very little meat on the bones. The meat was pretty moist and tender. But I didn't like the texture of the skins. They need to be deep fried.



I always thought Numero Uno pizza was a Chicago style deep dish pizza place but this isn't anything close to real deep dish pizza. This pizza is really a pizza cooked in a pan and passed off as deep dish. There wasn't much sauce on the pizza, making it dry because of the crust. Now I did like the crust, which had a sweet flavor and a nice crisp texture. But it was so dry. There was a good amount of pepperoni and just tons of cheese. It just needed more sauce.

For what it is, a pan pizza, it's not that bad. But I wouldn't go back to Numero Uno.

Service was very good. Nice friendly people. The first person who saw me standing at the counter, greeted me and said "I'll be right with you." About a minute later somebody else helped me and he was nice.

While the pizza or the wings aren't for me, I came away with a positive feeling about this Numero Uno. A simple greeting, something that doesn't happen, can got a long way. Just say "Hi" to a customer, it does wonders!!

Zankou Chicken- Pasadena

Zankou Chicken
1296 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena
626-405-1502

The first time I tried Zankou in Montebello, I did not know about the infighting between the owners of Zankou. A LA Times story gave a brief history about the infighting. I'm not going to bore everybody with the story. But, the Montebello location was opened by a family member who is bickering with another family member. It is not listed on Zankou's website.

So I decided I wanted to try a Zankou, that is listed on their website. So I visited the Pasadena location. I went on Sunday, April 25th. This Zankou still had a sign on their door, informing customers they would be closed on Sat, April 24th, to remember the Armenian Genocide.

While I knew how important, April 24th is to Armenians, others may not. So Zankou should have put something on their website about closing on April 24th. I did not see any mention of them closing on April 24th, on their website, and I checked on Fri April 23rd.



I got the combination kebobs, tri tip beef and chicken, $10.96, that came with basmati rice, pickled turnips, hummus and pita bread.

The tri tip was pretty flavorful, the spices were different than the spices used at the Montebello location. The Montebello location also didn't use tri tip, which is a sirloin cut.

The chicken was a combination of white and dark meat. The dark meat was tender,flavorful and moist. But the white meat was dry. But a nice idea putting both white and dark meat. I liked the spices in the chicken. There are the same spices as the Montebello location.

I like the hummus, very mild flavor, smooth, and fresh. I'm not a fan of tangy, sour hummus.

But the rice was too watery. They either put to much water in the rice or they took the rice out of the pit before it was fully cooked.

I finally found out what those purple veggies are; pickled turnips. I hate turnips, so I didn't touch them, but I never knew what kind of veggies they were until today.

Service is pretty good. They have two cashiers, one for all transactions and another one, just cash only. Some people have said Zankou is cash only, they just misunderstood the sign.

Overall there are only minor differences between the Zankou in Pasadena, which is a part of the Zankou company, and the Montebello location, which is owner by another family member.

I would come back to this Zankou location to try their roasted chicken.

I saw David Allen, just as I was leaving. We got a chance to talk for a little bit.

Pei Wei-Closed

Pei Wei
4517 Chino Hills Parkway
Chino Hills
909-393-7472

Ok, I know what people are going to say. Why go to Pei Wei, the fast food restaurant owned by PF Chang's. But too many people judge restaurants for what they aren't, instead of judging a restaurant for what it is. I'm as guilty as anybody but I do try to judge a restaurant for what it is, now.

Pei Wei has signature dishes and you choose what meat you want. Since I gave up red meat during Lent, I just got chicken dishes.



Ginger broccoli with chicken-Sweet ginger soy sauce, oyster sauce, scallions, and broccoli, $7.95. This was pretty good, if you like ginger. I like ginger but there was a ton of ginger on there. This was a flavorful dish and you won't go home hungry. The broccoli was fresh and crispy but could have been cooked a little bit longer. Overall a good dish but this would be great with beef.



Dan Dan noodles with chicken, chile seared garlic soy sauce, minced chicken, scallion, bean sprouts, cucumber and egg noodles, $6.95. This was spicy!!! All the flavors worked well but it was too spicy for me. I thought there could be more meat or bigger pieces of meat, why mince the meat? I also thought it was a bit soupy, I'm used to a drier form of noodles. I did like this dish but I wouldn't order this again.

Service was good. I was greeted when I walked in and they were very friendly.

Pei Wei wouldn't be my first choice but I wouldn't have any issues going back to Pei Wei.

The Palm- West Hollywood-Closed

The Palm 

9001 Santa Monica Blvd 

Los Angeles 

310-550-8811 

I have always wanted to try The Palm because I've heard great things about their steaks. The Palm had a special during DineLA, three course meal for $34, so I decided to go!! I'm not a fan of Dine LA because I think most of the restaurants mass produce the special meals and many times the food isn't freshly prepared and/or cooked. The first course was a nice Iceberg Wedge Salad with Danish Blue Cheese Dressing and Applewood Smoked Bacon. They quartered a head of iceberg lettuce and topped this with Danish blue cheese dressing and applewood smoked bacon. The lettuce was fresh and crispy. The blue cheese dressing was chilled and had a perfect blend of blue cheese. Great stuff. What wasn't so great was the bacon, which had been sitting under heat lamps forever. Cold, ok it is going on a salad, but you could tell it wasn't fresh. Another thing that wasn't freshly made was the fried onions. I guess every table got the fried onions because I didn't order them. But man they were cold, soggy, greasy and just plain bad. So what if this was free. If a restaurant wants to make a good impression, they need to make sure all their food is fresh. But I came to The Plam for the 9oz Filet Mignon over Wild Mushroom Ragout. I asked for a medium rare steak and got it. But as with most DineLA dinners, the food is quickly prepared and then sitting around heating lamps. The steak was very tender and flavorful but served about luke warm. I know steaks have to rest for about 15 minutes before being sliced but this steak must have been resting for at least 30 minutes. The wild mushroom ragout was served hot and maybe it kept the steak warm!!! I did enjoy the steak but I don't think the steak is worth their regular $45 price. Dessert was Key Lime Pie and it was great. I loved the subtle citrus flavor and creaminess of the pie. The crust was flakely and wonderful. Service was below average. The server wasn't always around and didn't even come by to ask how the food was. When he was at the table he was friendly and helpful. I wasn't overwhelmed by The Palm, it didn't live up to my expectations. I would have been upset if I had to pay the high prices on their regular menu. There is no need for me to go back to The Palm.

Bob's Big Boy-Pasadena-Closed

Bob's Big Boy-Pasadena
899 E Del Mar Blvd
Pasadena
626-793-2627

This Bob's Big Boy is owned by the same owners as the Bob's in Burbank, and this location used to be a Baja Fresh. This is the smallest Bob's I've ever been in. But this does have a more classic dining area, much like Bob's Broiler in Downey, without the car hop service.

While there are many Bob's opening up, the newer locations like the Bob's in West Covina, just do not have that old time feel. When eating there, you feel as though you're eating at any chain restaurant.

But thankfully, the Bob's in Pasadena gives you that old time feel. I got the Big Boy combo $8.29, with ranch dressing on the salad. The salad was your normal everyday salad, iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, red cabbage and crutons. Fresh, served chilled but could use more dressing.

The Big Boy was a served luke warm. I don't know what it is about Bob's and serving the Big Boy, lukewarm. There is a piece of unmelted cheese, isn't that burger patty hot? Shouldn't it melt the cheese? Oh well, the burger was very good dispite not being served hot. I love that red relish they top the Big Boy with, better than than no so special sauce on a Big Mac.

Service was GREAT. My server's name was Amy and was among the best servers I've ever had. Nice, friendly, helpful, attentive, and really cared about providing a good dining experience. I was never lacking for anything, though another server refilled my drink, she came back to my table at least five times to ask how things were going. I also ordered the chili spaghetti to go, and she was great about putting in the order, later, so that it would be warm and not sitting under heat lamps, while I was eating.

This is the classic example of how servers should act, even if the restaurant isn't that busy. I would say there were about 20 people at Bob's and there were about six servers. When restaurants aren't busy, this doesn't mean it is gossip times for servers. It means that people in the restaurant should get very good service. Amy, gave me great service. I couldn't have asked for better service.

I'm a big fan of Bob's Big Boy. I think the Big Boy is better than a Big Mac. I wish Bob's would improve the way the Big Boy is cooked and served, so it comes to the table hot. I like this Pasadena location because the dining area has an old time feel to it. At the new location they have a corporate feel. This Bob's has the feel of the older Bob's Big Boy. I hope this Bob's does so well, they have to expand. I know if your server is Amy, you will get great service.

Lawry's Carvery-Closed

Lawry's Carvery
1011 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles
213-222-2212

Lawry's Carvery is the casual version of Lawry's The Prime Rib, that has opened in the new entertainment center, LA Live. There are no spinning salads or silver carts serving up the prime rib, just place your order at the counter and find a table.

I got the original prime rib sandwich, $14.99, a 6oz portion of prime rib on a ciabatta bread, served with au jus and creamy horseradish. The sandwich was warm but the ciabatta wasn't toasted, just right out of the wrapper. The prime rib was piled high but a bit fatty. But it was tender, moist and flavorful.

Service is OK. The hostess taking my order was fine. But when I got my order, there wasn't any silverware on my table and the server who brought out my sandwich didn't provide any silverware. While I was up getting a refill on soda, I noticed the basket of silverware.

I wouldn't go back to Lawry's Carvery. $14.99 is expensive for a sandwich and I would rather use the money towards the real prime rib, at Lawry's The Prime Rib.

Sizzler- Anaheim-Closed

Sizzler
888 S Brookhurst St
Anaheim
714-772-0010

Why is The New Diner doing a review of Sizzler? To be honest, I'm not really sure. In the early to mid 90's I went to Sizzler quite often. They had decent food, a buffet, and had pretty decent prices. This may surprise people but at the time, there were not many buffets; no Hometown buffets, no Chinese buffets, or any all you can eat options, other than Sizzler's salad bar and shrimp. Of course over the years many Sizzlers have closed down.

But recently I saw an ad for a special at Sizzler, $11.99 steak and malibu combo with a salad bar. So when I passed a Sizzler on Brookhurst in Anaheim, I decided to stop in.

The salad bar was pretty impressive. They had a huge salad selection, many fresh veggies and dressing. I got a simple salad with iceberg lettuce and sunflower seeds and ranch dressing. The salad was fresh and cold. The ranch dressing was very good because unlike other places they didn't delude it with water.

I also wanted to try something hot and got the chicken wings. The wings are a fried wings, not a buffalo wing. The wings were very meaty and moist. But the batter was very salty, it reminded me of the frozen fried chicken from Banquet.

Now why two pictures of the clam chowder? The first picture was from the bottom of the clam chowder container. It was very thick, as if there was a ton of corn starch in it. It was also very salty and didn't have much clam flavor.

The second picture was after they finally refilled the clam chowder. The chowder was much less thick, had a ton of potatoes, clams, and flavor. This was like a masterpiece, while the first bowl was like a 5 year old's drawing!!!

Now for the steak and Malibu chicken. The steak, I wanted a medium rare, I got medium rare. This is one interesting thing about Sizzler, I have always gotten my steak cooked correctly!!! I have been to other steakhouses where the steak was either under or over cooked. The steak was OK, of course it wasn't dry aged prime but a good steak, though a bit small. It was well seasoned and had nice flavor.

Malibu chicken is a fried chicken pattie topped with ham and swiss cheese. The best part if the Malibu sauce which is mostly a mixture of mustard and mayo but Sizzler puts something else in there, because it takes different at Sizzler than when I've tried to make it at home. Anyways the chicken has gotten smaller over time and I'm sure by now, is frozen instead of freshly made. Anyways it was still pretty good. Moist chicken, not rubbery, ham is hot and cheese is melted.

Service by the server was below average. While she was nice and friendly, she wasn't always around, I had to wait a long time for drink refills, new plates and bowls for the salad bar, and napkins. The place wasn't too busy, sure there were people there but it wasn't crowded.

What is worse is that the salad bar wasn't always refilled. It took them a ton of time to even have soup spoons!!! The clam chowder took at least 20 minutes to refill. The chicken wings about the same. Ok the salad portion of the salad bar was quickly refilled. I saw a little girl who must be the daughter of one of the workers in the area where the servers pick up the orders from the cooks. Not only is that dangerous for the little girl, it slows down the server.

I haven't been to Sizzler in a long time. The food is about the same as I remember. I don't have a need to go back to Sizzler for a very long time.

Dave and Buster's- Ontario

Dave and Busters
4821 Mills Circle
Ontario
909-987-1557

Now I'm not one to go to many chain restaurants. But I see the ads all the time for Dave and Buster's Eat and Play Combo, $15.99, where you get a meal and $10 game card. Now it if you're there to enjoy the arcade games, then it is a great deal. But if you don't care about the games, it can be a decent to bad deal.

I went there for lunch and got The Boss Chicken Club sandiwch, $9.29, which has seven layers of goodies. Grilled chicken breast, applewood smoked bacon, creamy garlic-herb cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado spread and frazzled onions, all stacked on a toasted whole wheat bun with secret sauce, with french fries on the side.

I was impressed with the sandwich but I didn't like the avocado spread, give me mayo or honey mustard. But overall a very good sandwich. The chicken breast was tender but a bit bland. The bacon was great, nice smokey flavor and crispy. The bun could have been toasted a bit more but it was fine.

My only issue with the sandwich was the onions, some were burnt or too well done. That meant a bitter flavor to the sandwich. Next time I will ask for mayo and no onions on the sandwich.

The fries were great. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and they were long cut.

Service was good. The server was hard working, friendly and helpful. The place wasn't too crowded but he came by his tables on a regular basis.

The Boss Chicken Club sandwich with the Eat and Play Combo would have been $15.99. $6 more than the sandwich alone. So the combo wasn't that great of a deal. Though there are other food options that would make this a very good deal. But I think the sandwich is worth the regular menu price.

Bob's Big Boy Broiler- Downey

Bob's Big Boy Broiler
7447 Firestone Blvd
Downey
562-928-2627

Bob's Big Boy Broiler used to be Johnny's Broiler in Downey. This was a very popular hang out during the 50's and 60's. But as time went on, it lost it's popularity. In 2008 the owner of the property tried to illegally tear down the leftover of Johnny's Broiler. But people who care about preserving history called the police and stopped the illegal tearing down. The owner of the Bob's Big Boy in Torrance, worked out a deal to put up a Bob's Big Boy, complete with car hop service.

I went to the Bob's in West Covina, because I want to support Bob's. While the West Covina location has a modern and not the classic design, like the Bob's in Burbank, it is still nice to see Bob's making a comeback. But I was really excited to go to Bob's Big Boy Broiler since it had the classic old school design. I have heard Bob's will open an classic style restaurant in Pasadena sometime next year.

Driving on Firestone Blvd, you can't miss Bob's Big Boy Broiler!!! They have carhop service daily from 4-10pm. I got there too late for carhop service and the wait for a table was about 30 minutes, so I decided to get a table at the counter.

I got my usual super Big Boy combo, $7.99 and the chili spaghetti, $8.99. Yes, those prices are different than the prices on the carhop sign. Oh well. The super Big Bob combo was great. Fresh and hot, like it should be. The cheese was melted, the meat was cooked and seasoned correctly and the red relish had that tangy flavor. So good.

I love a five way!!! Come on now, get your minds out of the gutter. A five way the way Cincinnati chili is served. You have spaghetti, chili and cheddar cheese, beans, and onions. You can get a three way, no beans or onions. A four way, either with beans or onions. And what I love, a five way!!! Cincinnati chili is much different than chili from other regions.

Bob's does a three way using their own chili. The chili at Bob's is thinner and not spicy. But it has good flavor and taste. The spaghetti was cooked just right. A good dish that I finally tried after all the times I went to Bob's!!!

Service at the counter was very good. The server was nice and friendly and helpful. One thing I did notice, since I had great view of where the food is waiting to be picked up by the servers, the other servers were a bit slow. I saw three Big Boy combos sitting at the counter for at least 10 minutes. The other servers need to move a lot faster. My server was great, the burger was hot and fresh. But other diners that night did not get a hot fresh burger since it was sitting around for too long.

I would go back to Bob's Big Boy Broiler anytime. Such a great sense of nostalgia and good food.