Holy Smokes Bar-B-Que-Closed

Holy Smokes Bar-B-Que
116 N Vincent Ave
West Covina
626-339-6787

I went to Hungry Al's Bar-B-Que in 2005, when I first started The New Diner. I wasn't impressed and never went back. A few months ago, I drove past Hungry Al's and noticed, what I thought was a new sign. But, a closer look showed a new BBQ place that replaced Hungry Al's.

Holy Smokes Bar-B-Que opened in August, 2011. The owner of Hungry Al's retired and closed the restaurant in April 2011. Today, I finally got a chance to try the BBQ at Holy Smokes.

I got the lunch rib plate, $7.88, with macaroni salad. The lunch portion is served all day and has three spare ribs. The ribs include the tips, so they aren't St. Louis ribs, making them huge, these three ribs filled me up. The ribs had a decent bark, I tasted cumin and a nice smoke ring. But, when I bite into the ribs, they had a weird texture. I thought they may have been boiled before they were smoked, but the more I ate the ribs, I'm thinking they are grilled at high heat, which isn't BBQ, it's grilling!! For what they are, grilled, the ribs were pretty good. But, it's not the BBQ I was expecting. The BBQ sauce is a tomato based sauce with a strong cumin flavor. The macaroni salad tasted like it came out of a can.

Service is pretty good. The lady taking orders, who I believe is the owner or related to the owner, isn't really a people person, she is more reserved and not the friendly out going personality that is more suited for customer service. She is friendly, just not out going. It may bother people that the food was service to to go containers and utensils were plastic, but it's BBQ-which isn't gourmet.

While the ribs were huge and the prices very reasonable, I personally wouldn't go back. The ribs aren't smoked or the very least, they didn't do a good job of smoking the ribs.

La Grande Orange Café-Closed

La Grande Orange Café
260 S Raymond Ave
Pasadena
626-356-4444

Is there a restaurant that has been on your "to try" list that you drive by often, but never actually stop in for meal? La Grande Orange Café is one of the restaurants for me. It's been on my list of restaurants to try, and I'm in or drive by Pasadena quite often.

Recently a friend and I were talking, and she raved about La Grande Orange Café. So, we decided to have dinner there recently. She goes to La Grande Orange Café often and has tried many items on their menu.

She told me La Grande Orange Café, is housed in the old Pasadena train station. In keeping with the a back to the future them, LGO is next to the Del Mar Gold Line Station. If you're like other people in Los Angeles, there is a parking garage that offers two hours free parking with validation.

I got the grilled ahi tuna tacos, $20, with pico de gallo, gaucamole, and shredded kale slaw.

WOW, was the awesome. Everything was so fresh and tasty!! The ahi was grilled rare, and was among the best ahi tuna I've ever had. I've paid more for ahi at sushi restaurants that wasn't even close to this ahi. The ingredients for pico de gallo and gaucamole must have been on the farm that morning, because I've haven't had such fresh pico de gallo and gaucamole, ever!! The tortillas were freshly made. Everything combined made great tacos.

But, what blew me away was the kale slaw. Now, understand, I hate kale. But, it was on the menu and I figured, I would try a little bit of it, and if I didn't like it, no big deal. Well, I took a small bite and I was blown away by the flavor and freshness of this kale slaw. I find the texture and bitterness of kale to be off putting. But, that wasn't an issue here. The kale was tender, mixed with some garlic, red peppers, and some black beans. I think they offer this as a side, but next time I go, I'm going to order a couple of them to make an entree salad.

Service was ok. Our server was nice, but didn't came around that often. I felt as though he was just going through the motions. I don't want a robot as a server!

I'm not sure why I haven't gone to La Grande Orange Café earlier. But, I'm coming back soon.

Hole in the Wall Burger Joint-Closed

Hole in the Wall Burger Joint
11058 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles
310-312-7013

Competition is what drives the restaurant business. Foodies are the winners in the these restaurant competitions. While I'm not sure if The Counter, was the first of it's type to open in the LA area, it has competition with Hole in the Wall Burger Joint!! Hole in the Wall Burger Joint is more casual than The Counter, where it's more of a sit down restaurant. But, hell when you have the name, Hole in the Wall Burger Joint, are you really expecting a sit down restaurant? It's a bit hard to find, the store front is actually on Missouri, though the street address is listed as Santa Monica. Look for the shopping center with Winchell Donuts and Hole in the Wall Burger Joint, is behind that Winchell's.

Like The Counter, you fill out your burger order on a sheet of paper. All protein are 8oz portions, and include beef, turkey, spicy chicken and veggie. I got a turkey burger on a whole wheat bun, with onion mayo, cheddar cheese, red leaf lettuce, tomatoes, and mustard pickle relish, $8.95. They offer a pretzel bun and a burger in a bowl, but I passed on those.

I really liked this burger. A turkey burger is usually going to be a bit drier than a beef burger, because of the low fat content in turkey. But, this burger was juicy, full of flavor and just wonderful. The turkey was cooked perfectly and was well seasoned, very important. The toppings were fresh, though I took off the mustard relish after the first couple bites, I just wasn't a fan. For a great topping, on their condiment bar, is their version of ranch dressing and it's great. Next time I go, I'm getting my burger dry and just add their ranch dressing.

Service is good and the burgers came out quickly, hot and fresh!! But, it's a cash only operation, so be prepared. They have an ATM on site, but of course, we'll get dinged by your bank for not using their ATM's!!

I would go back to Hole in the Wall Burger Joint, any time.

Mogan's Cafe-Closed

Mogan's Cafe
548 Palisades Dr
Pacific Palisades
310-454-0040

Happy New Year, The New Diner readers. Glad to have you back for another year of restaurant reviews.

I'm rarely on the snotty, pretentious, asshole West Side, but I decided to make an late morning trip out there. Afterwards, I wasn't planning to go to Mogan's Cafe, but I was already in the area, so I decided to dropped in. Luckily I brought my camera, so I could do a review, my first in Pacific Palisades!

Mogan's Cafe is a few miles from the intersection of PCH and Sunset, no ocean view but a nice restaurant in a strip mall. While we were walking to our table, somebody at another table just got his breakfast quesadilla and it was huge!! So I was expecting huge portions. Good thing they delivered because I was starving.

I ordered the salad and sandwich combo, $10.99 on the menu, with the tuna salad sandwich and a mixed green salad.

The mixed green salad had green leaf lettuce, red tip leaf lettuce, spinach, and arugula with a vinaigrette dressing. This was a large portion. All the produce was fresh and tasty. The vinaigrette was slightly tangy but well mixed and worked well with all the veggies in the salad.

The tuna salad sandwich was huge! I would bet there was more tuna in this half sandwich, than a tuna salad sandwich from Subway. The tuna was moist but it wasn't drowned in mayo. I read that most restaurants use a different type of mayo, one that has low moisture, than the regular store bought mayo. I wonder where we "common" people can buy that mayo. This was a very filling and good sandwich. I don't think I could finish an entire sandwich.

Service was good. We sat on the patio and didn't lack for anything. The busboy refilled my water countless times, 82 degrees on January 2nd, makes me thristy. The salad and sandwich combo was priced at $10.99 on the menu, but when I got the bill, the salad and sandwich combo was $11.49. Ok, I'm not going to make a big deal about 50 cents, but come on update the prices on your menu.

I would go back to Mogan's Cafe. I like the quality of their food and their portion size!