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.

JJ Noodle House-Closed

JJ Noodle House
18303 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights
626-839-9269

I make it a point on every June 5th, to go to a Chinese restaurant, to honor Tank Man. For weeks in late May-early June, pro democracy students protested in Tiananmen Square against the communist Chinese government. Then on June 4, 1989, the Chinese government sent in troops who murdered thousands of those students. On June 5, 1989, Tank Man stopped a column of tanks, that were going to Tiananmen Square. And become a hero to many. The pictures and video have become iconic in the 22 years since Tank Man, stopped those tanks.



The northeast corner of Colima Rd and Fullerton Rd., in Rowland Heights, has a ton of restaurants. The New Diner has already reviewed two restaurants, Feedable BBQ Buffet and Pizza & Chicken Love Letter.




I wanted to try their xio long bao, XLB, $5.95, and got an order. The first thing I noticed about the XLB, was the thicker skin. I like the thicker skin, because it holds the inside contents, much better. The inside contents were, great. The soup was full of flavor, well seasoned, hearty. And the pork was great, well seasoned, cooked perfectly and great. The XLB here rank as one of my favorite XLB.

Service is good. The ladies are friendly and the food arrives quickly and hot. But, they only speak Chinese, and when I tried to call to get directions, they weren't very helpful. This is a cash only restaurant.

I would come back to JJ Noodle House for the XLB, anytime. The next time I come, I'm going to order the scallion pancakes, which looked great.

Nonna Pizzeria-Closed

Nonna Pizzeria
818 Fair Oaks Ave
South Pasadena
626-403-4100

A few doors south of Gus's Barbeque, and across Fair Oaks Ave, from
Fairoaks Pharmacy, is Nonna Pizzeria. I read they serve up some good New York style pizza and decided to give them a try.

I had their special, any two slices and a 16oz soda, $6.04. Normally, I don't like getting slices, but I was going to Mamma's Brick Oven Pizza, after and there was no need to get a whole pie.



I decided to get a regular pepperoni and sausage slice. The pie had been on the counter for at least 45 minutes, the amount of time I waited for other friends to come. Even though the pizza had been sitting around for awhile, I thought the toppings were very good on this slice. The cheese was a good quality cheese that had melted nicely. The pepperoni had a good flavor and the sausage was nicely seasoned.

But, what I didn't like was the crust, this was a weak crust with no flavor or texture.



I noticed they put a Sicilian pizza up, while I was waiting, so I know it wasn't sitting around for hours on end. Sicilian slice with pepperoni. I loved this slice. The crust was great, nice and brown on the bottom with some nice crispy part. The toppings were great, same quality cheese and pepperoni. The Sicilian is the way to go at Nonna Pizzeria.

Service was good. The people are nice, friendly and they take and get your order out quickly.

I would go back for the Sicilian pizza again, I would have to think long and hard, if I wanted a regular pie.

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.