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.

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.

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.

Valley Ranch Barbeque-Closed

Valley Ranch Barbeque
16623 Sherman Way
Van Nuys, CA 91406-3735
(818) 989-1300

Think of Love's or Victoria Station. Think of the 1970's. That's what I feel going to Valley Ranch Barbeque. This old fashioned BBQ place bills itself as the same chef for 25 years.

You know me, I love spare ribs. But this place only had the yuppie babyback ribs. So I ordered the lite dinner portion, $12.99, which is about six to seven ribs. The dinner includes three sides, salad, corn on the cob, and fruit cocktail. The ribs, which I asked for sauce on the side, was pretty meaty but on the tough side. They weren't tender, which they should be, since they are babybacks. They didn't have a smoke flavor. They are not smoked but cooked over wood. The salad was fresh but nothing special. The corn on the cob was so bland, I had to check to make sure what I was eating. No flavor at all, even with the butter. The fruit cocktail, I didn't touch.

Service was good. The lady was very nice and helpful. But she wasn't around a lot. The host came by to refill drinks more than the server. But she got my order right and was friendly.

There are much better BBQ options in the Valley, Mom's and Swinging Door, even Dr. Hogly Wogly is better. So there is no need for me to go back to Valley Ranch.

South Coast Winery Restaurant-Closed

South Coast Winery Restaurant
3608 S Bristol St
Santa Ana
714-957-1857

South Coast Winery of Temecula, opened up a restaurant and wine tasting room in Santa Ana, not far from the South Coast Plaza. The wine tasting is $10 for five pours. The servers give you more than a "taste", two tastes almost equal a glass. I love their sparking wines. Not dry but a nice refreshing taste.

As for the food, it's pretty good but pricey. I got the northern halibut. The halibut was a little overcooked, making it on the dry side. Some fish, like halibut are easy to overcook. But the halibut was fresh and putting on some of the salsa helped with the dryness. Was it worth the $30? Hell no. There were some small pieces of vegetables but nothing to write home about.

As an appetizer we ordered the cheese plate for $10. They had four kinds of cheese. Munster was the best and then they had three very bitter cheeses, blue cheese, Asiago and one other. Some people may like those sharp, bitter cheeses, but not me.

Service was very good. We had a party of 10 and we were served quickly and they were attentive. But then again there may have been four other people eating in the restaurant at the time.

I would not go back to South Coast Winery for the food. It's very expensive and the food isn't worth it. The food is average at best. I could get a better halibut at a better price at most other seafood restaurants.

The wines are great at South Coast. But the food leaves a lot to be desired.

Jimmie's-Closed

Jimmie's
701 Whittier Blvd
Montebello
323-726-7783

Jimmie's is a local restaurant that tries to cater to all of Montebello. So that means American food, Persiand food, and Mexican food.

Well they don't do American breakfast right. Pictured is the one egg breakfast special with a biscuit for $4.79, which includes potatoes and bacon.

Where should I start. The biscuit and country gravy. TERRIBLE. First there was a thick layer on top of the gravy. When I dipped the biscuit, both the biscuit and gravy weren't even luke warm. The gravy tasted as though it had been sitting around for an entire week. TERRIBLE.

The egg was ordered over hard and this was overcooked. It's too brown. There should be some white showing, even in a over hard egg. The was the best part of the meal.

The bacon was undercooked. They needed to be on the grill for a few more minutes.

The pototoes were nothing great, very bland.

Service was average. The young server took my order and the order came quickly but my drink wasn't refilled until I had to call for her. But she was nice and pleasant.

I would not go back to Jimmie's. Terrible food.

Troy's Drive In #10-Closed

Troy's Drive In #10
720 N Hacienda Blvd
La Puente
626-330-3659

I much prefer going to the local burger place for lunch than any coporate fast food place. So with this in mind I go to Troy's Drive In #10 for lunch. Troy's is your basic "greast spoon" type of burger place.

I got the 1/4 lb bacon cheeseburger combo with fries, $5.59. The burger was cooked well done so it made the burger very dry, even with lettuce, tomato and 1000 island dressing. The bacon left a little to be desired. It seemed as though the bacon had been sitting in a warmer since breakfast. It was tough, greasy and just down right bad. After a couple bites, I took the bacon out and eat the rest of the burger. The cheese wasn't melt, it was like they forgot to put the cheese on there and at the last minute put a slice of cheese.

Service is good and friendly. My order came quickly which is good considering I only have about 30 minutes for lunch.

I would not go back to Troy's. The burger isn't good and I think the prices are on the high side.

Mr. G's Pizza-Moved

Mr. G Pizza
2767 Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
909-598-9400

A buddy and I did a taste test for G best pizza in Diamond Bar. We tried Papa G's and Mr. G's. Mr. G's, is suppose to be a NY style pizza place. But their personal pizza wasn't the thin crust NY style pizza. It was regular crust pizza.

I didn't actually go here. My buddy picked up the pizza, so I'm not sure how the service was. They are doing a lot of renovation to that shopping center, so that's why you see that plain sign.

But the pizza had a good amount of sauce. Most pizza places put as little sauce as possible. I'm glad to see Mr. G's didn't follow in their footsteps. They didn't put a lot of cheese on the pizza and I thought there could have been more pepperoni. I thought their crust was very soft and chewy. Some may think it's too "doughy" but I thought their crust just fine. Overall a solid good pizza.

As I mentioned before, I didn't actually go to Mr. G's. My buddy paid for the pizza from Mr. G's and took it to Papa G's. I thought both pizzas were good and would order from both places anytime. When I go back to Mr. G's I will update this post with prices and the quality of their service.

Update:

The price of the small pepperoni pizza is $5.95. A steal for such a good pizza. Service is good. The owner is very friendly and helpful.

Attentive The New Diner readers, know this location used to be Taqueria Azteca, that was reviewed on March, 2006. I was told by a long time Diamond Bar resident, there was a Mr. G's pizza back in the 1970's. This current location has nothing to do with the original Mr. G's.

Deano's Pizza-Closed

Deano's Pizza 6333 W 3rd St #310 LA 323-935-63733 The Farmer's Market has a ton of places to eat. Across from the Gumbo Pot is Deano's Pizza. Deano's offers many other choices besides pizza. Pasta, grilled meats. But I wanted to try their pizza. So I got their pizza deal for $5.75. A slice of pizza, salad and a soda. The pizza was just OK. I was in the heating tray for awhile but even if it was fresh out of the oven, there was something missing. There could have been more pepperoni. The sauce could have been better. The crust could have been better. I just wasn't impressed with this pizza. I would have been better off baking a frozen pizza. The salad was filled with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and croutons. Service was pretty good but the kid didn't give me a receipt, even after I told him, yes I wanted a receipt. I would not go back to Deano's for their pizza. But their grilled meats, chicken picatta looked very good.

Papa G's Pizza-Closed

Papa G's Pizza
303 Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar
909-861-3939

Papa G's has been in Diamond Bar since the 1970's. But I've never been there and decided to give it a try. My buddy and I did a taste test, to see who had G best pizza. Mr.G's Pizza. My buddy picked up the pizza at Mr.G's and we met at Papa G's and eat both pizzas.

The interior is 1970's interior, complete with brown wall paper. But the pizza is very good. Pictured is a personal pepperoni pizza $7.40. While the pepperoni wasn't covering the pizza, it was nice and flavorful. I did like that they put a ton of cheese on the pizza. What's up with pizza places putting next to no cheese on their pizza? The crust was crispy, yet soft and chewy. They did not overcook this pizza.

Service was good. The owner's daughter, a high school aged teenager, was nice and friendly. She was fairly attentive and while not waiting tables, she had her head in a HS biology book.

So, who won G pizza taste test? Mr. G's was solid and I enjoyed it a lot, I thought Papa G's is one of the best pizza in Diamond Bar!!

I would go back to Papa G's. I'm surprised it took me so long to go there but I won't wait too long to go back.

Green Field- West Covina-Closed

Green Field
281 N. Azusa
West Covina, CA 91790
626-966-2300

I used to like Green Field a lot. I went to the Green Field in Long Beach earlier this year.  But after my experience at their West Covina location, I will not go back again. I went on a Sunday night. I was hungry and ready for some meat.

Pictured first is the beef rib. Very salty and lots of fat. I didn't even finish it.

Next came the pork chop. Very dry and salty. Not tender at all. What a waste.

Bacon wrapped turkey. The bacon was cooked unevenly, parts were burnt, others were cooked just right. The turkey was processed turkey which made it very salty. The turkey would have been dry if not for the bacon.

Sausage. Nothing special about this sausage. Wasn't too flavorful.

Beef Shish kebob. They needed to be on the fire a few more minutes. The onions were barely cooked, the meat was dry and salty.

Sirloin was so red, I thought they just killed the cow. This was also salty and very chewy.

The last picture was either the skirt steak or roast beef. Either way it was salty, tough and just plain bad.

The meat was terrible. But what was worse was the service. I waited at least ten minutes from the time the pork chop was served until the next meat came by. This happened all night. It took forever for the meat to arrive. And they lack any kind of variety in the meat. Where was the tri tip? The pork loin? I think they just use the leftover meats on Sunday. That maybe fine, if they lowered the price. But it was still, $25.95. What a damn ripoff.

Again the meats at Green Field was very salty and lacked flavor. I would not go back there again. What a waste of time and money!!!!