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.

Original Buffalo Wings-Closed

Original Buffalo Wings
2750 Alton Parkway, Suite 131
Irvine
949-660-8989

A loyal The New Diner reader, is a Yelper. Now I normally think of Yelpers as idiots. Most are punk kids who have no clue the meaning of good food. But I know how popular Yelp is. Even some of my favorite bloggers have gone to the dark side and became Yelpers!!! Come back to the good side, people!!!

But this certain Yelper was very nice and helpful in regards to Korean BBQ. Telling me more about and how to eat Korean BBQ. I looked at her Yelp reviews and I found her glowing reviews of Original Buffalo Wings and since I love chicken wings, figured I would go try it. The only problem with her is that she is from Northern California and cheered for that cheater, Barry Bonds.

Original Buffalo Wings is located in a corner shopping center and there must be another 30 restaurants in the same complex.

I got the 13 wings, $8.95 and split them with lemon pepper and original spicy. There was no charge for a split flavors and 13 is the least amount of wings you can order to split flavors.



Honestly I thought these wings were very small. These wings need to be like Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire and take some steroids. Man were they small. But they were very flavorful and hot as hell since they came right out of the fryer. Crispy, a bit spicy but could have used more seasoning.



As with the lemon pepper wings, I didn't like the size of the wings. But I loved the sauce. Tangy, flavorful, just the right spice. Awesome. I dipped the lemon pepper wings in the leftover buffalo sauce!! This is among the best buffalo wing's sauce I've ever had. If you combined the size of the wings from Guppy House with the wings sauce here, you would have a great chicken wing. Interesting that there is another location of Guppy House right across the parking lot.

Service was very good. The young lady who took my order was nice and friendly. And man, was she hot!! The best thing is, she doesn't realize just how hot she is!! No attitude, just a real down to earth young woman, who is a very nice person and hot as hell.

I wouldn't rush back to Original Buffalo Wings but I would rush back to see that hottie, who took my order. No, just kidding.

Dickey's Barbecue Pit-Closed

Dickey's Barbecue Pit
15435 Jeffrey Rd
Irvine, CA
949-679-0050

Dickey's Barbecue Pit is a Texas BBQ chain. I believe this Irvine location is their first in CA.

Texas BBQ means brisket smoked over mesquite wood. But as readers of The New Diner know I love ribs, so I got the rib plate, $14.99, with double mac and cheese.

They are called sweet pork ribs. They are St. Louis style and pretty flavorful and tender. But I'm not sure if they truly smoke the ribs. There was some smoke taste but nothing great. The BBQ sauce had a nice kick to it though. I also thought the portions were small for the price.

The mac and cheese seemed like it came from a box. I'm betting Velveeta shells and cheese. Why would I go out for something I can make at home?

Service was OK. The girl was kinda of unfriendly and not really that helpful. I asked how many ribs you got with the rib plate. It was like asking how old she was or how much she weighs.

I would not go back to Dickey's again. I think it's overpriced and the ribs are just OK. One thing I've learned is that there isn't good BBQ behind the Orange Curtain.

Steelhead Brewing Company-Closed

Steelhead Brewing Company
4175 Campus Dr.
Irvine
949-856-2227

Steelhead Brewing Company is located across the street from Cal State Irvine. Much like JT Schmidt's is a Brewery with very average food.

I got the Grilled Ahi Sandwich, $12.95. The white stuff you see on the ahi is a spciy lemon aioli. The ahi is cooked medium and placed on a wheat bun. The ahi was overcooked, closer to medium well to well done. They dumped so much aioli on the ahi, it was impossible for the ahi to be dry. But the ahi was pretty bland and flavorless. The aoili wasn't spicy was certainly had lots of mayo. The bun and veggies were fresh. They gave you a good sized piece of thick ahi and that's the only saving thing about this sandwich.

The service was good. I went during happy hour and sat in the bar area. The server was friendly and attentive.

I would not go back to Steelhead again. While the portions are big, the food is bland and average.

Javier's-Irvine

Javier's
45 Fortune Dr.
Irvine
949-872-2101

I've heard so many things about Javier's at the Irvine Spectrum, I decided to try it. What I found was an overpriced, very Americanized, poor service Mexican restaurant.

I got the Chimichanga de maricos, $18, filled with Dungeness crab, shrimp, and cheese in a deep fried flour tortilla. Now this had a decent amount of crab and shrimp but it wasn't worth $18. I realize that crab and shrimp are expensive but the chimichanga could have been bigger. This was good but nothing outstanding.

I hate going to Irvine. It's filled with suburbans wannbe yuppies. I hate the fact everybody looks the same, dresses the same, and acts the same, like a jerkoff from OC. I went to the hostess to get a table, I happened to be with a white girl and she was right next to me. I asked for a table for two. She said "I can seat you right now." Cool I thought. Then she says "Is everybody in your party here, right now?" Hello stupid, she's standing right next to me. Then we sit in the patio but the server is terrible. It took forever to even get menus. Though she took our drink order quickly. She brings us our drinks but still no menus. We finally get the menu and we wait again for her to take our order. Our food comes fairly quickly but we don't get refills on water and drinks, she never bothered to ask how the food was. She even took a long time to get the check.

I would not go back to Javier's again. What a terrible experience with the service. Food is OK but nothing great and not worth the high prices.r

The Counter-Irvine-Closed

The Counter
6416 Irvine Boulevard
Irvine
949-336-7272

I went to The Counter in Santa Monica and really enjoyed their burgers. So when I heard they opened up a location in Irvine, I figured why not try it again.

At The Counter you pick what type of burger you want. You have a choice of turkey, beef, or veggie. Then choose your cheese, toppings, and sauce.

I picked the 1/3 lb beef burger, with horseradish cheddar cheese, lettuce blend and tomatoes, and a peppercorn steak sauce on a hamburger bun. The burgers are cooked medium unless you ask for something else. I just asked for medium but got medium rare if not rare, there was lots of pink. But I'm not that picky about how meat is cooked. I can do medium rare and at times rare. But I figured they should be able to cook a burger properly.

The burger was good with the horseradish cheddar adding a nice kick to the burger. This burger was good but I thought it wasn't as good as the Santa Monica location. Sure, I am being a bit tough for them not cooking my burger correctly, but at the Santa Monica location, I got everything I wanted.

The burger and a Blue Moon, with tax and tip, was $16. Service was good as the server was helful and friendly.

I would go back to The Counter to make another combination burger. There are so many good choices. I may even try one of their turkey burgers.

Houston's-Irvine

Houston's
2991 Michelson Dr
Irvine, CA 92612
949-833-0977

Houston's. Yes Houston's is part of chain. Yes, it's overpriced. Yes, the food is good. But it's just not worth the time and money to dine at Houston's.

I ordered the pork ribs, for $27. These were the small ends of the spare ribs. Ask the server what kind of ribs, she will say baby back STYLE and pork ribs. The ribs are not smoked but slowed cooked in an oven and finished on a grill. There is no smoke flavor to the ribs. But these ribs are good. Meaty, not a lot of fat, since it's the small ends, and the BBQ sauce doesn't overpower the taste of the meat. You get your choice of two sides, I picked the cole slaw and mashed potato. Both were average, nothing special about them.

Service was good. Our server was helpful and we didn't lack for many things. Everytime I ran out of my drink, she quickly came by and refilled the drink. But the hostess here suck. I made 8:30pm reservations. When we arrived, the hostess said you will be seated in about 5 to 10 minutes. No problem I figure. So we wait and wait and wait some more. I see three parties of two people get seated before us. Now why the hell did I make reservations? Aren't reservations suppose to get seated before people who are just walk into the restaurant? Finally we went up and the hostess gave some BS excuse that people were staying longer. What a bunch of crap. She was kind enough to offer a free appetizer. But that doesn't make up for our wait.

I would not go back to Houston's again. Even if we got seated quickly, the food just isn't worth the price. $27 for a rack of ribs? I can go to Phillip's and get two rib dinners, 2 sodas, and 2 red velvet cakes for less than that. Ok, ok mayb $5 more. But the point is Houston's is overpriced and there is no reason to go back.

Thai Bamboo Bistro

Thai Bamboo Bistro
6715 S. Quail Hill Parkway
Irvine
949-509-4771

I find most ethnic restaurants in the Orange Curtain to be very Americanized. Now all ethinic foods are "Americanized" to a certain degree. But for the white bread people of the Orange Curtain, it has to cater to their tastes.

I ordered the chicken satay ($6) and the spicy shrimp soup ($12) The chicken satay was pretty tender and had some flavor. It wasn't anything special but wasn't bad.

The spicy shrimp soup, called Tom Yum Soup with shrimp wasn't as good as other Thai places I've been to like Ocha's. It had tomatoes, baby corn, bamboo shoots, and overcooked shrimp. It wasn't spicy even though I asked for an 8 on the spice scale.

Service was good. I was seated quickly and I got the order quickly.

I wouldn't go back to Thai Bamboo Bistro. Too Americanized. Too expensive for average food.

Caspian-Closed

Caspian
14100 Culver Dr.
Irvine
949-651-8454

Oh the Orange Curtain. It's been a long time since I've been to a new restaurant in the Orange Curtain. The recent reviews of restaurants in the Orange Curtain, I've been there before and wanted to do a review. But Caspian is new and since I've been on a kebob kick, I decided to give it a try.

I ordered the shish kabob, which is marinated chunks of filet mignon, skewered and charbroiled , served on a bed of fluffy basmati rice with grilled tomato, peppers and onions. The lunch portion was $9.99.

This filet mignon was tender and lean. But it wasn't as moist as other kebobs places I've been to. It was also pretty flavorless, almost as though there were no spices. I didn't think the portion was as big as other places. I realize it's lunch but you think you're getting a lot of beef but really it's deceiving because of the onions and peppers.

Service was very good. I went with an online dining group and we had about ten people. Our servers were attentive to our needs and we were not lacking for anything.

I enjoyed going to Caspian but I wouldn't go back. I can go to other kebob places and get better food and prices.

Chicago's Best-Closed

Chicago's Best
2540 Main St.
Irvine
949-757-1802

In my never ending search for the best Chicago style hot dog, I tried Chicago's Best in Irvine. Let's just say I'm still looking.

I ordered the Chicago Hot dog which comes with an order of fried and the Maxwell Street Polish. As always no peppers on my hot dog.

The hot dog comes and there were two peppers on top. It's not big deal to take them off but I do like to have food how I order them. The hot dog lacked any snap and flavor. It must be one of those no brand name hot dogs. The toppings were fresh but the hot dog is terrible. The hot dog could have been served a little hotter. The fries were just your average run of the mill fries/

The Polish sausage wasn't any better. It was overcooked just a little, biting into the polish you almost had to be have the power of a pit bull. The onions are suppose to be caramelized but they were barely grilled.

I'm not a big fan of Italian Beef sandwiches that make Chicago so famous. I rarely if ever order them at restaurants that serve Chicago style food. Maybe I should since I'm having a tough time finding a good Chicago Style hot dog.