Bad Bob's BBQ-Closed

Bad Bob's BBQ
3210 Chino Ave
Suite A
Chino Hills
909-591-8470

Why the hell do I even bother? I know who has the best BBQ ribs in LA, Phillips. Ok it's a far drive, often in lots of traffic but it's so damn good. But every time I see a new BBQ place, I have to try it. So when I saw Bad Bob's BBQ I figured I would try their ribs. Big mistake.

I got the half rack of baby back ribs, $15.99. ala carte. I didn't feel like paying $2 more for sides I don't want. The ribs were dry, lacked any smoke flavor, and were baby backs!!! Not a good thing. They were fairly meaty but nothing overwhelming. The ribs tasted as though they were cooked with liquid smoke. They have two different BBQ sauce, regular, which is very sweet and hot, which is about a medium spice. Both are tomato based sauces.

Service is below average. The kids, and they are teenagers behind the counter are nice kids who at times need to remember they are working and not having free time. When the kitchen put my ribs on the counter, the girl was texting her friends. My ribs must have stayed on the counter for 3-5 minutes before she called me. Not good.

I would not go back to Bad Bob's again. The ribs and service are both bad.

Papadakis Taverna-Closed

Papadakis Taverna
301 W 6th St
San Pedro
310-548-1186

Papadakis Taverna is owned by former USC football player John Papadakis. They opened the restuarant in 1973 and has been a staple of San Pedro ever since. You are greeted with a firm hand shake by John, the man is like 6'4 and built like a damn building, of course he's going to have a firm handshake. From then on you're treated like a king.

I ordered the salmon, $25.95, with soup and salad. The soup was a lemon rice soup. Not too sour, with plenty of rice. The salad was romaine lettuce topped with feta cheese and Greek dressing. The dressing was very good, not too sour like most Greek dressings can be. Fresh lettuce and feta cheese made this a good salad.

Before you order they bring out a tray of meat and explain what is on the menu. On the tray they don't look that big, but once on your plate they are huge. The salmon was huge, the menu says 14 oz, but I bet this salmon was at least a pound. The salmon was grilled to perfection with a tangy sauce. They don't ruin a simpe good piece of fish with a bunch of junk. They provide a mustard mayo sauce for the salmon and that just made a great dish better. This was well worth the price.

Service was great. Besides John being a great host, the server was nice and friendly. Drinks were refilled quickly, dishes were cleared, we didn't lack for anything.

I would go back to Papadakis any time. During dinner you are treated to dancing by John and his niece. A belly dancer and the breaking of plates. If you never been to a real Greek restaurant, you need to go to Papadakis. You are treated not like a number but like family.

Hooters-Closed

Hooters 3041 E Garvey Ave N West Covina 626-974-4668 Ok, people don't go to Hooters for the food. It's to see the women who work there, in their orange shorts and white tank tops. So I had to force myself to forget about the girls and review the food. The West Covina Hooters, used to be a Charlie Brown's, and is located in Restaurant Row, just off the 10 freeway. I ordered the 10 piece wings, all drummettes, $9.79. Medium on the spicy meter. All drummettes cost $1 extra. Hooters wings aren't buffalo wings, they are breaded and then fried, then topped with hot sauce. The wings I got were huge, among the biggest I've ever had. They were also very moist and tender. They were not that spicy, maybe I'll get hot next time. I also ordered the grilled chicken salad, $8.89. This salad was no different then the ready made salads you get at the store. Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, carrots, and cucumber topped with grilled chicken. This salad was fresh and the chicken was tender and flavorful. Service was good. I did get greeted when I walked in. But either she can't hear or she is dumb, because I asked to see the baseball game and she put me in front of a TV that had the football game!!! Now I like football but I don't watch the NFL during preseason. I wanted to watch the Brewers vs Astros. I did ask her to switch the channel and she did. But there were plenty of seats open where I could have watched the baseball game. The server was very nice and friendly. I wasn't lacking for anything. I don't make Hooters a regular stop. But every once in a while I crave their wings. So I go. I get good service almost every time I go there and I'm always greeted when I walk in. So I would go back.

Phil Trani's

Phil Trani's
3490 Long Beach Blvd
Long Beach
562-426-3668

Phil Trani's is a long time Long Beach restaurant. Many UCLA and USC football players have had dinner at Phil's. The bar is covered with autographed photos of athletes who have enjoyed dinner here.

While I'm not a famous athlete, I didn't enjoy my dinner at Trani's. I ordered the crab stuffed halibut, $22, lump crab and roasted peppers stuffing, between halibut fillets and topped with a taragon sauce.

All diners come with soup or salad, I got the red clam chowder, and rice pilaf. The red clam chowder had very little to clams but lots of potato and a spicy broth. I wouldn't order this again.

The hallibut was ok, but it didn't have the flavor or texture of halibut. I even asked the server if this was halibut. This tasted more like cod or sole. The crab stuffing had very little crab and was pretty flavorless.

What added some flavor was the taragon sauce. This tasted more like a honey mustard sauce. But added some flavor to the dish.

But I thought this wasn't worth the $22 price tag. A very small portion of a fish that might have been halibut, very little crab, and even the size of the rice pilaf and green beans was small.

Service was pretty average. The server was a bit slow to refill water. There weren't that many people having dinner and I thought she could have came to our table more often. She was nice and friendly.

I would not go back to Phil Trani's again. Overpriced, small portions, and very average food.

Cham Soot Gol

Cham Soot Gol
9252 Garden Grove Blvd #10
Garden Grove, CA 92842
714-590-9292

Korean BBQ. I haven't reviewed that many Korean BBQ places, Ka-San BBQ being maybe the only one to date.

But I went to Cham Soot Gol and it was all you can eat for $16.99. You get sliced beef, pork belly, which is bacon, bulgogi, chicken, and spicy pork.

Before I continue, I thought about pictures for Korean BBQ. Since you are cooking the meats at the Korean BBQ's, I think I will post just the pics of the raw meat. Why? Because the pictures of the cooked meats will vary depending on how you cook them. I think it's better to see the raw meat to determine the quality.

The sliced beef was terrible. They were frozen and had lots of fat. They had no flavor at all and was tough. They reminded me of sliced beef I got from the Mongolian BBQ's.

The pork belly was terrible too. Ok, I know pork belly are mostly fat but this damn thing was almost all fat.

I did like the bulgogi. which is marinated beef. Lots of good flavor, though a bit fatty.

The chicken was bland and flavorless. They need to put some marinate on this. Mostly dark meat, pretty tender but who cares if it lacks flavor.

The spicy pork was too fatty and hot. They need to cut down on the hot sauce. I didn't like much.

The best part was the ice cream. It's Thirfty's ice cream and they had green tea, butter pecan,chocolate and later on strawberry. You scoop up the ice cream yourself on a cone. They could soften the ice cream a little or use the ice cream scoopers they use at Thrify's. But otherwise a nice treat.

Service was good. They kept bringing new meats, a grill, and all the sides. I only ate the rice.

I would not go back to Cham Soot Gol again. I only thought one of the five meats were good, the bulgogi. It was worth the price since I ate a lot of the bulgogi. But the other meats were not good quality at all.

I know there has to be a better Korean BBQ place. I didn't realize that this stretch of Garden Grove Blvd had turned into the Koreatown of Orange County. The street was filled with many Korean BBQ places. I may have to try them soon.

Roman Cucina-Sunset Beach

Roman Cucina
16595 Pacific Coast Hwy
Sunset Beach
562-592-5552

Roman Cucina has three locations. I went to their Costa Mesa location on a Monday night and had the calamari, $8.95 and a couple $5 martini!!! The calamari is very fresh and crispy. They are also huge. These are among the best calamari I've had. What I didn't like is the red sauce. It's basically a pasta sauce. Come on now, make a cocktail sauce. It's not that hard. But overall the calamari is a very good appetizer. Service was very good. Server was nice and helpful.

I just went to the Sunset Beach location for dinner. I had the chicken parmigiana, $13.95. All dinners come with a salad. The salad is romaine lettuce with onions and cucumbers topped with Italian dressing. You don't get a choice of dressing. The salad was fresh and the dressing was very mild for an Italian dressing, not tangy or bitter.

The chicken parmigiana was a huge piece of white meat chicken, covered with mozzarella, that was sitting on penne pasta. The penne was cooked just right. The red sauce was a bit spicy but nothing special. I thought the chicken was some kind of processed chicken. It was lightly breaded but the texture just didn't taste right. I thought this entree was a good value but I wouldn't get it again. The chicken just didn't taste right.

Service was good. We had a party of 16 but we didn't lack for anything and we got our orders quickly. Almost too quickly. He didn't give us much time to eat our salads. Our entrees came when most people were half way done with their salads.

I didn't care for the Sunset Beach location because it's small, crowded and noisy as hell. Wednesday nights are free corkage night, so that's why it was so crowded. But do wine drinkers have to yell when they talk? When you have to yell at the person across from you, to hear it's not a good thing. I would enjoy Roman Cucina in Sunset Beach on a different, less crowded night.

I like Roman Cucina and would go back but never on a Wed night.

Park Pantry

Park Pantry
2104 E Broadway
Long Beach
562-434-0451

I've heard that Park Pantry is known for their breakfast menu. But I was in the area and wanted something to eat. This is a diner style place. Nothing fancy, just good comfort food. Well maybe not the cheeseburger.

I got the double cheddar cheeseburger, $9.50, with fresh fruit. The burger comes with grilled onions, pickles and 1000 Island dressing. This was a very greasy burger. I picked off the onions and my fingers could have greased every squeaky wheel on the block. The meat was big but pretty flavorless, not seasoning, nothing. You got a lot of burger for your money but the quality just wasn't there. I don't think even adding A-1 steaksauce would improve the burger.

Service was very good. The server was attentive, I never had to ask for anything, and friendly.

I may go back to Park Pantry for their breakfast or other items. But I would stay away from their burgers.

Carm's Coneys-Closed

Carm's Coneys
488 E 17th St
Costa Mesa
949-515-7888

Sadly, this location of Carm's Coneys has closed. They are trying to open locations in Orange and Irvine. Hopefully it will happen soon.

I've known about Carm's Coneys since October, 07 but I haven't been there mostly since I don't go to Costa Mesa much. But I was finally in the area and decided to have a couple hot dogs at Carm's.

I got The City Dog, $4.50, a coney, $3.95, and the 1/3 Pounder, $4.65. The hot dogs are grilled to order so expect a wait. This isn't like those nasty Dodger Dogs that are kept in a warmer.

I loved The City Dog. Again no snap but this was a Sabrett hot dog. If you're from New York you know all about Sabrett. This was an great hot dog, though it did lack a snap. The hot dog was well spiced and flavorful. The City Dog comes with that special red onion sauce that makes getting a hot dog in NY a great experience. The sauce is best described as a tangy, thin, tomatoey sauce with onions. The buns are slightly grilled and very fresh.

The Coney was very different. I've never had a white hot dog before. The Coney is made with all white veal and very mild. Not a spicy dog and there is not snap. But a good hot dog but different. I liked it but not enough to order this again.

The 1/4 pounder was an all beef dog that was ok. I put yellow mustard and raw onions and the dog was OK but nothing overwhelming. Again no snap and little flavor or spice.

Service was GREAT. I know I have a very high standard for service. I know I've called high school aged kids punks because they have no clue about customer service. But this was very different. I had two younger kids help me. A young girl who looked to be a high school kid and a guy who looked a little older, maybe a senior in HS. Both were GREAT.

The guy took my order first. He greeted me promptly and was very nice. I ordered the Coney and the City Dog and he answered my questions. I then went to get refills and the young girl was very helpful and friendly. After eating the two hot dogs, I ordered the 1/4 pounder from the young girl. She was again friendly.

I liked Carm's Coneys. I know the prices are a bit high but they have a happy hour, Mon-Thur, half priced hot dogs, wings and sausage from 2pm to 4:30pm. OK not the best times but I'm going to try and make a happy hour and try their wings and sausage. But overall good quality hot dogs and good service. So look for an update very soon!!!

Update August 10, 2008






So I made it back to Carm's Coneys for their happy hour. I had the small order of buffalo wings, $3.50, a Frank, $2, and a Polish Sausage, $3. They were all half priced during happy hour, Mon-Thr 2pm-4:30pm. The buffalo wings were huge, not small wings you get at other wing places. The wings were fried and had a mild sauce on them. They were good and I would have ordered them even at full price.

The Frank is a Hoffman's beef frank. Again it lack a casing and thus no snap. But a good solid overall hot dog.

The Polish Sausage was very good. A huge piece of kielbasa that was pretty spicy. But they overcooked this. If this was cooked right, it was have been great. But charred outside is not what a polish sausage should be.

Service was great again. I placed the order with the same young girl from Saturday. She was nice and friendly again. I ordered the wings, City Dog, and the Polish sausage at first but then she said they had run out of wings and the owner was bringing them down to the store. I didn't mind the wait, I wasn't in a hurry and was told it was no problem. I ordered a beer, Blue Moon, with the wings and the manager told me she was buy me another beer. I said no problem, I understand things happen. When I went to pay she took off $2 for the beer. I wasn't expecting it but I thought it was good customer service.

Kobe Teppan and Sushi-Closed

Kobe Teppan and Sushi
13741 Newport Ave
Tustin
714-544-4055

Once I found out that Kobe Teppan and Sushi offered a $2.50 hand roll, every Wednesday, I wanted to see what they had to offer.

The $2.50 deal is only offered at the sushi bar and the 3-4 booths. I was very impressed with the quality and freshness of the hand rolls.

The first picture shows the Shrimp Crunch and Tuna Roll. The shrimp crunch was my favorite, I would order two more before leaving. The shrimp was tempura fried and was tasty and fresh. They put a sweet sauce that just made this a great roll.

The tuna roll was also fresh and tasty. Like all rolls they were stuffed with rice and cucumbers.

The second picture has another shrimp crunch roll and the spicy yellowtail roll. It was very spicy and just overwhelmed the yellowtail. I didn't care for the yellowtail much. It wasn't fresh and was very rubbery.

The last picture is the calamari roll. It's basically the same as the shrimp crunch roll except it's calamari. The calarmari was a bit small but fresh and tasty.

Service was very good. I never had to ask for refill on drinks, they were there refilling drink. The rolls came out quickly. Yes, it was a bit slow, not many other people in the restaurant, but still great service.

I would go back to Kobe anytime. The next time I may order off their sushi menu, though I would not order the yellowtail.

Parker's Lighthouse

Parker's Lighthouse
435 Shoreline Village Dr
Long Beach
562-432-6500

I went to Parker's Lighthouse for their Tuesday Happy Hour Special. $7 Martinis and Panini's. I got the shrimp and fontina and chicken pesto paninis. The shrimp panini was left under the heating lamp too long. The bread was too hard and crusty, the shrimp was way overcooked. I should have sent it back but I was pretty hungry.
There was a good amount of bay shrimp and the fontina cheese was very tasty with a nutty flavor.

The chicken pesto was better. A large piece of chicken breast with pesto, tomatoes and I believe swiss cheese. A very good panini, that wasn't left under the heating lamp. The bread was nice and toasted, not burnt.

Service was below average. I ordered from the bar and while the bartender got my drinks quickly, the food service sucked. Yes, there was a large party of about 40 people. But get more servers and bartenders. When I got my chicken panini, there wasn't a big crowd but about three hours later, when I ordered the shrimp and fontina panini, it was crowded and the bartender just forgot to get the panini until I reminded him. The staff was nice and pleasant, even with a near full house. But they need to be quicker and/or hire more servers.

I don't think I would go to Parker's for dinner. I looked at the menu and prices were high. The $7 panini is a good deal, so I may go back for again for the panini.

McCormick and Schmick's- LA-Closed

McCormick and Schmick's- LA
633 W 5th St
Los Angeles
213-629-1929

I've been to the McCormick and Schmick's in Pasadena, but I figured I would try the happy hour at their downtown LA location.

McCormick and Schmick's is known for their great happy hour food prices. A $1.95 cheeseburger with fries!!! Where else can you get that. I decide to get an order of buffalo wings, also for $1.95. You need to order at least $2.75 in drinks to get these happy hour food deals. Have a couple drinks, $5 and up, and you're covered. The burger is cooked medium well and is good but a bit dry. There is just lettuce, tomatoes, and onions on the burger. They could put mayo or ketchup to make it a little more moist but overall a good quality burger. But the burger was warm, not hot.

The buffalo wings were great. There were a lot of meat on those wings. But the skin wasn't crispy, it seemed as though they baked instead of fried. But the sauce was very spicy, among the spiciest, I've had. I got about six wing for that $1.95 price and what a steal.

Service was good, much better than the service in Pasadena. The server was friendly and the food came out quickly.

McCormick and Schmick's is a great value for happy hour. I enjoy them. I liked the downtown LA location because there were real people, not the arrogant jerk you might expect. Or maybe I was there on a good day. I would go back to McCormick and Schmick's for happy hour anytime. I've seen their dinner menu and I think their prices are high and I've heard the food isn't worth the price. So I may do a dinner review but don't expect one soon.

Gus's Barbeque

Gus's Barbeque
808 Fair Oaks Ave
South Pasadena
626-799-3251

Why do I even bother? As readers of The New Diner know, I love BBQ ribs. I already know the best place for BBQ ribs in LA, Phillips BBQ. So why do I bother trying all other BBQ restaurants?

Gus's BBQ in South Pasadena has been around forever. But they recently changed owners and I've heard good things about them. The new owners of Gus's also own Tops, a burger place in Pasadena. I may review Tops.

I got the half rack of St. Louis spare ribs, $20.51, with doubel creamed corn. I saw them working on the ribs and they took a half rack of ribs and put it on the grill. Once I saw that I wasn't expecting much. The menu does the meats are slow smoked for over 10 hours with hickory and applewood. Well there was no smoke flavor and no smoke ring on the ribs. It was clear the ribs were cooked in an oven and just terrible. The ribs lacked flavor and were pretty tough. There is no way they were in any smoker for 10 hours.

Service was great. I was greeted as I walked in. The young lady who helped me answered all my questions and was very friendly. Though, after I ordered, they did ask if I was from next door? I said no and asked why? I guess next door they have a cigar bar and people order food from there.

I would not go back to Gus's BBQ again. The ribs are terrible and not smoked. They are just as bad as Barn Burner.