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.

Mamma's Brick Oven Pizza-Moved

Mamma's Brick Oven Pizza 710 Fair Oaks Ave South Pasadena 626-799-1344 After going to Nonna Pizzeria, I walked a couple blocks north on Fair Oaks Ave. to Mamma's Brick Oven Pizza. I did the samething as I did at Nonna, ordered slices. Pepperoni slice, $2.75. I loved the crust. This crust was firm, had good texture, was soft, yet chewy. The pepperoni was ok, nothing great. But the cheese was also top notch, good quality cheese. I wanted something different and saw the buffalo chicken slice- $3.25; buffalo sauce, mozzarella, southwest seasoned chicken breast, and ranch sauce, on the counter and decided to try it. The first thing I noticed was this pizza is spicy, whatever buffalo wing sauce they use, needs to be on wings. The buffalo sauce had a lot of vinegar and a lot of spice but overwhelmed the taste of the pizza. There wasn't that much chicken breast but they tasted ok. They did put some ranch dressing on top, to try and balance things out, but it didn't work. Service was good. People are nice, friendly and get your orders out quickly. The regular pizza slices are better here at Mamma's, mostly because the crust is so much better, than at Nonna. I would come back to Mamma's and try a freshly baked pie.

Cassell's Hamburgers-Moved

Cassell's Hamburgers
3266 W 6th St
Los Angeles
213-480-8668

I first heard of Cassell's Hamburgers after reading this, LA Times Story. The writer seemed confused because from the pictures Cassell's isn't a gourmet burger, it is a diner style burger, much like Apple Pan or Russell's. I consider gourmet burgers to have all these fancy toppings, like, truffles or gruyere, not regular American cheese, or iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, or onions.

Anyways I decided to try Cassell's and judge for myself. As I walked in, I knew right away this wasn't going to be a gourmet burger. This is your standard diner-style restaurant. Nothing fancy or gourmet about it. The burgers are cooked on a special double broiler, with the heat coming from the top.




I ordered the #23, a 1/3lb American cheeseburger, $6.95. With each order, you get their "buffet" which is really their condiment table. There are many choices on the table, including a relish that was very close to Bob's Big Boy; your standard mustard, mayo, and very fresh veggies. I got the relish, lettuce and tomato. The burger is big but not thick. They are cooked well done, which is fine, but the burger was dry. There was no flavor to the meat at all. There wasn't anything special about this burger, certainly did not live up the hype of that LA Times story. The toasted bun was a nice touch, the relish is almost exactly the same as the relish on the Big Boy double decker burger, and the veggies were chilled and very fresh. But I couldn't get over the dryness of the meat.

Service is good. The cooks greet you right away and you place your order with them. They are nice and helpful, if this is your first time. The cashier, who I believe is the owner, is also nice and helpful.

I wouldn't go back to Cassell's. The burger is ok, but certainly not outstanding. Also my first reaction; Cassell's is not gourmet burger, proved true.

Cowboy's Steakhouse-Closed

Cowboy's Steakhouse
227 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel
626-282-1348

The first Taiwanese steakhouse, I reviewed was Four Seasons Steak House, in Rowland Heights. I really like Four Seasons and will compare all Taiwanese steakhouses, to Four Seasons.

After going to Mei Long Village, I walked around for awhile and noticed Cowboy's Steakhouse. I wanted to give them a try and see how they compared.

So I decided to give Cowboy's a try, on June, 5, 2010. People need to remember June 5, 1989. That was the day an ordinary man, made an extraordinary show of courage. Tank Man.



I ordered the New York steakhouse, $12.45, medium rare, that comes with soup, salad, garlic bread, rice, and mushroom sauce.



Soup is a standard soup, made with corn starch, some corn, and a very bland broth. It was served warm, not hot.



Salad with a 1000 island dressing and iceberg lettuce. Fresh, crisp and served chilled.



Garlic bread/toast. Actually, not too bad. I did like this, nice garlic flavor. But it would have been better if served hot.





I ordered my steak medium rare. The server said our medium rare is bloody. I said that would be fine. When the steak came to my table it looked great on the outside, with a nice crust. But when I cut into the steak, I saw red, red, and more red. This is not medium rare, this is rare. But, since I agreed to their version of medium rare, I can't really complain.

This steak was very bland, they must not have put any salt on this steak. It lacked flavor, with lots of gristle and fat. This is a very low quality steak. It was so bland and flavorless, I had to add A-1 steaksauce and I never add steaksauce to a good steak.

Service is good. Nice, friendly servers who get the food out quickly.

I would not go back to Cowboy's again. The quality of the steaks are not that high and the steak just lacks seasoning and flavor.

Din Tai Fung Dumpling House-Moved

Din Tai Fung Dumpling House 1108 S Baldwin Ave Arcadia 626-574-7068 Din Tai Fung is a chain from Taiwan that is well know for the Xiao Long Bao dumplings (XLB) or in English, juicy pork dumpling. What makes an XLB dumpling different is that there is actually juice inside the dumpling. I have seen many reviews raving about Din Tai Fung and swear it is the best place for dumplings in LA. But I also saw one idiot from Yelp, who gave Din Tai Fung one star because he was Jewish and didn't eat pork. Hello, stupid!!!! if you don't eat pork, why are you going? They do have other non pork items. But this is why yelp is a stupid site. I got the juicy pork dumpling, $7.25 and the juicy pork and crab dumpling, $9. The juicy pork dumpling took forever to arrive because they were in the steamer. So they arrive hot!!! The dumplings are small about bite sized. They are filled with nicely flavored pork. The juice is very good, of course it has a pork flavor and was hot. The basic way to eat these juicy dumplings, is to put them in a spoon and take a bite. If any juice comes out, it will go on the spoon. The juicy pork and crab dumpling wasn't as hot as the pork dumplings. The amount of meat was about the same as the pork and went about 60-40 pork to crab ratio, so there was a good amount of crab. This was nice and flavorful but I think it would have been better if it was served hotter. It was about warm. Service is OK. You walk in and they give you a menu, for you to write what you want. The juicy pork and crab dumpling came out quickly. But the juicy pork dumpling took forever. 3-5 servers came by and looked at the menu but either the dumplings were taking forever to steam or they thought someone else was going to get the order. I soon found out that it was worth the wait because the dumplings are much better when served hot. Din Tai Fung did not live up to it's billing. It is good, it's not great. I wouldn't rush back to Din Tai Fung but I would go back there if I'm in the area. I went to the original LA location. The new location is literally behind the original location. I heard the hostess, ask a couple if they wanted to wait for a table or go to the new location, which had a table open.

Sanamluang Cafe-Moved

Sanamluang Cafe
1648 Indian Hill Blvd # C
Pomona
909-621-0904

Hype and reality. Many restaurants are all hype and don't live up to that hype. In terms of Thai food, Thai Nakorn is suppose to be the best Thai place in the LA/OC area. But I wasn't impressed with Thai Nakorn and much prefer Ocha.

I haven't heard much hype about Sanamluang Cafe but damn if it wasn't among the best Thai places I have ever been. When I go to Thai places, I try the chicken satae and the Tom Yum Goong soup. If those are good, I'll try other things on the menu. After having both at Sanamluang Cafe, I can't wait to try the rest of their menu.

Chicken satae, $5.95. This was great. They had more seasoning than any other Thai place I have been to. Tender, pretty juicy, not dry at all and a very big portion. Who wouldn't like this. I was a little surprised by the toast given with the satae, never had that before but I'm not complaining about extra food.

Tom Yum Goong soup, $7.95. WOW, was this good. Not that spicy and the server didn't ask how spicy I wanted the soup. But man, lots of rich flavor, tons of medium sized shrimp and just wonderful.

What wasn't wonderful was the service. Very slow, we only saw the server three times, once to take the order, once when the food was ready, and to drop off the check. Never got refills, never was asked how is everything. Friendly people but service needs a lot of work.

I would go back to Sanamluang Cafe to try some of their other dishes. All are good sized portions and most dishes are under $10.

The Boiling Crab- Alhambra-Moved

The Boiling Crab- Alhambra
742 W Valley Blvd.
Alhambra
626-576-9368

Much like The Boat House, The Boiling Crab is another no frills, Asian meets Canjun seafood place. Your table cloth is butcher block paper, your napkins are from paper towels. This isn't the place for those pretentious jerk people of Orang Curtain or the Worst Side. You order from seafood by the pound, with prices depending on the supply of seafood.

Fried shrimp, $8.99. This was great. Cornmeal batter covering sweet tender shrimp. This was awesome. Hot out of the fryer and crunchy, a steal for the amount and quality of shrimp. A great appetizer.

Shrimp, $9.99/lb. These are peel and eat shrimp with the heads on. The shrimp was tender and so fresh it must have been swimming earlier that morning. We got mild Cajun seasoning. Not spicy at all but tons of flavor.

Dungenous crab, $13.99/lb. All the seasonings were added to the dungenous crab. Lemon pepper, cajun, and garlic butter combined to make this a very flavorful, though over powered by the garlic seasoning. The crab was sweet and tender and there were a ton of crab!!

Blue crab, $7.99. Lemmon pepper seasoning added to the flavor of the blue crab. The crab was great. I like the taste and flavor of blue crab over dungeness crab.

Service was very good. But The Boiling Crab gets very crowded, you're so close to the next time, they might as well be part of your group. But the food comes out quickly, drinks are refilled quickly and the food is great. All in all a great time. But be prepared to wait for an hour or more for a table and they don't take reservations.

What is the difference between The Boiling Crab and The Boat House? Prices are going to vary due to supply. But I think the seafood is fresher at The Boiling Crab since they go through so much seafood. The Boat House seafood is fresh but The Boiling Crab tastes as though the seafood was swimming in the ocean just that morning. I wouldn't be disappointed if I had to go to The Boathouse but my first choice would be The Boiling Crab.

Pizza Buona-Moved

Pizza Buona
2100 W. Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles
213-413-0800

Update May 30, 2019- Check out my review of the new Pizza Buona- which moved a couple blocks south of their old Sunset location!

I went on a Pizza Crawl in Echo Park. We went to two places that I have never been to, Pizza Buona and Two Boots.

Pizza Buona was the first stop of the pizza crawl. A family owned store that has been around Echo Park forever, they are a no frills pizza place.

We ordred a medium pepperoni pizza,$11,70. When I first saw the pizza, I thought it was burnt. But in fact this pizza was baked just right. This was a heavy pizza, lots of toppings on thin crust. I bet the used more cheese on this pizza than four pizzas from Dominos. The cheese was nice and gooey and melted just right. Lots of pepperoni that was mild in flavor and worked well.

Service for about 30 people was great. Nice and friendly service.

I would go back to Pizza Buona anytime. Don't let the outside appearance fool you, this is a good quality pizza place with good prices.

Old World Delicatessen- West Covina-Moved

Old World Delicatessens
2648 W Workman Ave
West Covina
626-967-6307

As the sign says Old World Deli has been family owned and operated since 1969. I'm surprised I haven't tried this place sooner.

I was very surprised with the variety of items they had. Pizza, broasted chicken, hot dogs, soups, and of course sandwiches.

Since I haven't been to a hot dog place in a long time, I got the NY style hot dog, $3.50 with mustard, kraut and raw onions. The hot dog was all beef, Boar's Head hot dog. A good quality hot dog but they do not have a natural casing around the hot dog, so no snap. But this is a good quality hot dog, even if it's steamed.

I also got the hot corned beef, $6.85, on grilled rye, mustard lettuce, tomato and swiss cheese. They piled high the Boar's head corned beef and topped with the fresh lettuce and tomatoes. The grilled rye added a nice touch. A very good sandwich. Maybe a little high on the price but good quality and quanity.

Service is good. The young lady taking the order was nice and friendly. But it did seem to take a long time to get my order ready. Maybe they were waiting for the sandwich to be grilled. But overall a nice place to go for lunch. I will go back to try their pizza and broasted chicken soon.


Update 4-22




I went back to Old World to try a slice of their Silician pizza with pepperoni, $3.30. This is not a good example of Silician pizza. Yes the crust was thicker and soft. But there was barely any sauce and the cheese and pepperoni weren't anything to write home about. I think Old World should stick to sandwiches.

Update 4-23




Every Wednesday Old World Deli has $2 off on their broasted chicken family dinners. So I got the eight piece family dinner, $15.10, and decided to see how Old World Deli's broasted chicken compared to the Chicken Box, Pittsburgh Chicken and Taters, and Broasters Kitchen. The family dinners, includes broasted potatoes, salad, I got half mac and half potato salad, and 4 rolls. The chicken at Old World is cooked to order, just like the other three places.

Well Old World beats the hell out of it's West Covina competior, Chicken Box. The chicken at Old World is so moist, juicy and tender. After biting into the crunchy skin, the juicies are just flowing out. The chicken is hot, fresh and so good.

For me, I like Pittsburgh chicken the best with Broasters coming in a close second. But I think Old World is now tied for second. Who would have thought that a deli would make such great broasted chicken. I would go back to Old World for their sandwiches and their broasted chicken.

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.

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.

Pesce-Moved

Pesce
2227 Polk Street
SF
415-928-8025

Pesce is a seafood tapas restaurant. We ordered the Capasante, $13, pan seared day boat scallops and lobster mushroom cream. This was an amazing dish. The lobster mushroom cream sauce was so tasty and wonderful. The scallops were so fresh, I'm pretty sure they were in the water earlier that morning. The

The Granchio, $9, dungeness crab risotto cake and rasted pepper vinaigrette, wasn't as good. First of all there was little to no crab at all, mostly fillers. For a kid from Baltimore that's not a good thing. The vinaigrette was pretty good but I'm not paying $9 for a dipping sauce.

Service was OK. The server was very friendly and helpful, when we saw her. There were long stretches of time when she wasn't anywhere to be found. What she was doing, I have no idea.

I wasn't aware this was a tapas restuarant, I had expectations of bigger portions. But the scallops, were worth the price, even if it was a small plate. I would go back to Pesce but I would not order the crab cake. The oysters on the half shell look fresh and I may give those a try. But I will either sit at the bar or get another server because our server just wasn't around enough.