The Market Grill-Closed

The Market Grill
525 S Shamrock Ave
Monrovia
626-303-4314

Have you ever had great expectations about something, but they didn't live up to expectations? Maybe it was a date with a beautiful woman, but during the date you found out she had the personality of a lugnut and the IQ to match? Or maybe you were expecting a great vacation and all you got was rain and a bad tour guide?

Well, that's the way I feel about The Market Grill in Monrovia. I heard some great things about The Market Grill and had great expectations. But sadly, my expectations were not met.

Located in a market, duh-thus the name, Market Grill serves up burgers, sandwiches, soups, and hot dogs. There are about six tables and a few counter spaces to dine in. It wasn't that crowded when I went on a Saturday afternoon around lunch time.

I ordered the 1/3lb. bacon burger, $7.25, with cheese, add 50 cents, with fresh fruit. The burger comes with lettuce, tomato, red onions, pickles and 1000 island dressing. I asked for no pickles. They ask how you would like your burgers cooked, I asked for medium rare, I got a burger that needed to be on the grill just a little longer. Nothing too bad, but I would like the burger cooked how I asked for it.

Anyways, the burger was fine. The meat was well seasoned and moist, it was messy and a bit greasy, what a burger should be. The toppings were all fresh, the bun was your standard bun. But, there wasn't anything mind blowing or outstanding out it. It wasn't something I would drive out of my way for. You could get this burger from any greasy spoon, in any neighborhood. I read that things are freshed baked here. I saw bread with the label from Costco. The burger buns were from a package, that looked like a food service package. Somebody has wrong information.

Service is very good. You are greeted once you enter the restaurant, whether by a cook or the person taking orders. Very nice, something many restaurants need to improve upon. The guy taking my order was nice and helpful. After asking me if I wanted everything on my burger, he listed everything that came on the burger. Some cashiers and servers don't know their own menu, and have no idea what comes on their burgers. So it is good to see this staff is well trained and knowledgeable about their menu.

Again, the burger was fine. I don't want to give the impression that The Market Grill was bad. It's just that I heard some many great things about The Market Grill and it just wasn't outstanding or worth the trip.

Gene's Grinders

Gene's Grinders
800 S Myrtle Ave
Monrovia
626-358-8016

I find restaurants from all different sources. As people have seen by the many restaurants I've reviewed, David Allen, is a professional writer, is one of my sources. Another source is the Chowhounds message board. While I will read about new restaurants on Chowhounds, I think most people who post on Chowhound, like carter, ipsedixit, reality check, will owen, and servorg, are assholes and full of themselves. The moderators are real assholes, with their heavy handed deleting and locking of threads.

Anyways, I read a thread on Chowhounds about, grinders, which is another name for sandwiches, used mostly back east, and Gene's Grinders in Monrovia was mentioned. I knew I was going to be in Monrovia, and decided to give them a try. On a side note about the asshole factor on Chowhounds, the person who started the grinder thread, had all these stupid requirements about a grinder. I really wish people who understand almost nobody uses the term, grinder. It's a sandwich.




Since the pastrami dip, $7.50, was highly talked about, I got a large pastrami. The pastrami is mustard and pickles. When I saw this sandwich, I honestly thought I was at The Hat. The pastrami was sliced very thin and piled high on a nice, chewy roll. Exactly like The Hat. The pastrami was good but nothing outstanding. I'm all about supporting mom and pop restaurants, so Gene's Grinders is fine. But, honestly it's nothing more than The Hat and a longer drive for me.

Service was very good. The guy who took my order, was very nice and helpful. The sandwich came out quickly.

The asshole on Chowhound, talked up Gene's as a holy grail. While Gene's is fine, I certainly wouldn't sing it's praises, but if I'm in the area, I would stop in.

Floyd's BBQ-Closed

Floyd's BBQ
501 W Duarte Rd.
Monrovia
626-616-7121

I was driving to Taco Lita and saw a sign that said BBQ. I was very curious so I stopped in. Floyd's is actually inside a liquor store called House of Spirits.

The meats are smoked, over smoked in those 55 gallon drums. If the pitmaster is good, they can make that work. The pitmaster at Floyd's needs to work on his BBQ!!

I got a pound of pork spare ribs, $8. The ribs were so dry!!! They must have been leftover from Wednesday. They were chewy and tough and just plain bad!!! I also got a bunch of crappy pieces that barely had any meat on them. They did have a smoke flavor, but it was very overpowering.

Service was OK. The people are nice.

I would never go back to Flody's again. This is among the worst BBQ I have ever had.

Jake's Roadhouse

Jake's Roadhouse
622 S. Myrtle Ave
Monrovia
626-599-9453

It's been my experience that most BBQ places near the 210 are average at best. Canyon City BBQ, Gus's, Big Mama's, and The Pit are all BBQ place off the 210 freeway that I've been to and haven't been impressed at all. Add Jake's Roadhouse to that list of average BBQ place off the 210. I'm surprised I didn't find out about Jake's earlier since I've been to so many BBQ places.

I got the pork sprare ribs, $16.95, with corn on the cob and cole slaw. The ribs were not smoked, they were cooked in an oven. The ribs were a bit fatty, greasy, and lacked flavor. There were good amounts of meat on the bone but the meat was tough, not tender. The BBQ was pretty good, on the sweet side but with a bit of a kick.

Service was pretty good, though the host never greeted us. He just grabbed two menus and then told us to we could sit anywhere.

I woud not go back to Jake's. I will continue my search for good BBQ off the 210.

Kebob Room- Monrovia Farmer's Market

Monrovia Farmer's Market
608 S Mytle Ave.
Monrovia
626-358-7177

There are many farmer market's but I think Monrovia has the best "food court".

As readers of The New Diner know, I love kebobs. So I got the chicken and beef kebob combo, $8, from the Kebob Room stand. The chicken was season with the normal Middle Eastern spicies. But it was pretty dry. The beef was great. My favorite. Tender, flavorful and just great. I would put this beef up against most of the other kebob places I've tried.

Service is pretty good. But the lines can be very long.

I'm not sure if the Kebob Room has it's own restaurant but just having dinner while shopping at the Farmer's Market is a treat. I think the Monrovia Farmer's Market closes down during December and January but the other months it's a great time to buy fresh produce and sample good food.

Update April 26, 2009



I went back to the Monvovia Farmer's Market and Kebob Room. Again I got the beef and chicken kebob, $8. The first thing I noticed about the kebobs was the smaller portions of the chicken and beef. Then the lack of rice. The chicken was still tender but not that flavorful. It was missing some spices, I didn't even realize it was Middle Eastern food. It was like a plain chicken kebob.

The same for the beef kebob. Not as flavorful as before and the same smaller portions.

Not sure what happened to Kebob Room but I wasn't as impressed this time. Smaller portions, less flavor doesn't make a good combination. Maybe it was an off night. But I was looking forward to some kebobs and I didn't get them.

April 24 is a tough day to find good kebob places open. Why? Many kebob places are owned by Armenians and they close their businesses to remember Armenian Genocide but the people of Turkey. Something our idiot President refused to say, even after promising to say that, during his campaign. Another one of his lies!!! It is time for the people of Turkey to admit they are responsible for the Armenian Genocide.

Mikomi

Mikomo
414 S. Myrtle Ave
Monrovia
626-359-1058


Mikomi is a very good sushi restaurant in Monrovia. Monrovia is a very underrated city for good restaurants.

We ordered the chicken on a skewer, $5, as an appetizer. Nice tender pieces of chicken, with a teriyaki sauce. While the portions was a bit small, but for $5 it was worth the price.

Red Snapper, $4.75, and tuna, $5.25, were up next. They were very fresh and tasty. For those prices, they had better be fresh. Among the highest prices for red snapper and tuna I've paid but it was also worth the price.

Spicy Shrimp roll was up next. At $5 this was a steal. I would guess these were rock shrimp and cucumber. This was a bit spicy but nothing overwhelming. I liked this and would order it again.

California rolls were up next, $4.50. Good, fresh California rolls.

Shrimp tempura crunch roll, $8.95. Shrimp tempura, avocado, sprouts, gobo, cucumber and stick crab. This was nice, fresh, crunchy, and tasty. A bunch of flavors and textures that work very well together. One of my favorite rolls.

Service is pretty good. We were not lacking for anything and they staff was attentive and friendly.

I would go back to Mikomi again. Very fresh and tasty sushi, with good service makes Mikomi a winner.

Kiku Sushi

Kiku Sushi
670 Huntington Dr.
Monrovia
626-357-9971

Every now and then I enjoy having sushi. But I'm not an expert on sushi but as long as the sushi is fresh, I'm pretty happy. The best way to tell if fish is fresh? If there isn't any smell. Fish should not smell.

Kiku Sushi offers a great dinner special. You can choose two items from the menu for $8.95 or three items for $12.95. I choosed the two items, with chicken teriyaki and three pieces of sushi. The chicken teriyaki is the standard grilled chicken topped with teriyaki sauce. It's good but nothing special. The three pieces of sushi I got included tuna, salmon, and halibut. All the sushi was fresh and very tasty. I would was impressed they could serve these items at these prices.

My girlfriend had the tempura and avocado rolls. The tempura included shrimp and vegetables dipped in tempura batter and deep fried to perfection. I really enjoyed the nice crunch of the tempura. The avocado rolls were fresh and tasty.

Service was good and fast. But they didn't mention the special until my girlfriend asked about the special.

I would go back to Kiku Sushi anytime. A nice place for fresh sushi at a great price