Brownstone Pizzeria-Closed

Brownstone Pizzeria
2108 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles
323-257-4992

When people talk about pizza in Eagle Rock, they always mention Casa Bianca, which is too inconsistent for me. I heard about Brownstone Pizza, a few blocks west of Casa Bianca and wanted to give them a try. So I called up a few friends and we met at Brownstone-a NY style pizzeria, that sells whole pies and slices, that are huge!!



We ordered a medium pizza, $14.99, with one side:pepperoni, sausage, red onions and mushrooms and the other side- pepperoni, sausage, red onions and olives. I hate olives so I only had the mushroom side.

The crust was a bit soggy and not the usual NY style thin crust pizza. The sauce was pretty good, not too sweet, not too spicy. I liked the amount and quality of toppings on the pizza. The sausage had a nice spice to it, the pepperoni was good quality and the mushrooms were great, not the canned mushrooms from Casa Bianca.



I tried a slice of the other pizza we ordered, a White pizza, with ricotta, romano, garlic herbs, and olive oil with red sauce. The same crust. But the combination of cheeses was great! I really liked this pizza and I would love this pizza if they was some pepperoni and/or sausage!

I saw slices and they are cut from their large, 20" pies!!

Service was OK. The young woman taking the order was nice and friendly. But the guy brought our pizzas to our table was new and wasn't well trained. He didn't give us any plates for our pizza. We had to walk to the counter and ask for plates. He was nice and tried but he needs to be trained better.

I would go back to Brownstone Pizzeria. I think it is better than Casa Bianca and they take credit cards, something Case Bianca does not.

Oinkster

Oinkster
2005 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles
323-255-6465

The Oinkster. I have heard about the Oinkster for a long time. But I just never made the trip to Eagle Rock to try their food. So I got together with some friends and we had a late dinner at the Oinkster.

The Oinkster is known for their pastrami and pulled pork. I decided to try their pulled pork sandwich, 6.99, and chili cheese fries, $4.95. The pulled pork sandwich comes with red cabbage cole slaw and carmelized onions. They have Carolina BBQ sauce at the condiment table. The pulled pork was a bit dry, matter of fact everything about the sandwich was dry. The pulled pork didn't have that smokey flavor. It was tender and had decent seasoning. The cole slaw was dry, hardly any mayo. The BBQ sauce is a very thin, tomato based sauce. It does have a kick at the end but I wasn't a fan of the BBQ sauce. It did make the sandwich a bit moist and added a kick but I didn't think it enhanced the flavor of the pork.

The chili cheese fries are OK. The fries themselve are Belgian fries and I love them. Beligim fries are lighter and more tasty than French fries. I call them the Muchos of fries. Since Munchos are the lighter and in my opinion, better version of fries. Next time I go, I will just order the Belgian fries.

But the chili fries just didn't cut it for me. The chili was bland and lack flavor. Yes there was a lot of cheese and that is alway good but the chili just made the fries soggy and bad.

Service is very good. Friendly, nice, and helpful. I asked the girl behind the counter if they could turn the TV to the Dodger game. They quickly turned the TV to the Dodger game. She even said, she didn't even know they were on.

I will go back to the Oinkster and try their pastrami and burger. But I would not order the pulled pork again.

Update March 7, 2010.




I went back to Oinkster and tried their rotisserie chicken. I got the quarter white meat chicken with rice and fries, $5.99.

When the chicken arrived I was a bit disappointed by the small size of the chicken, I also thought that maybe the chicken would be dry. But much to my surprise the chicken was tender, flavorful, and moist. I wouldn't say juicy but moist. I think the chicken has been sitting in a warmer for almost too long, a few more minutes and I know the chicken would be dry. But I got lucky and it wasn't dry. I did like the chicken and thought it was a great deal.

The fries are great. Light, crispy and the aoali sauce, with a lot of garlic was a wonderful dipping sauce!!! The rice was flavored with spices and maybe cooked in chicken stock. Nice and flavorful.

Service was good. The young lady taking my order was nice and friendly.

Mediterranean Triangle-Closed

Mediterranean Triangle 4917 Eagle Rock Blvd. Los Angeles 323-340-8314 Mediterranean Triangle is a small place in Eagle Rock. They surrounded by chain restaurants but serve some good food at good prices. I go the #4 combo, shish, chicken, and luleh kebobs with rice and salad, $17.31. The shish kebobs were well spiced and they gave you a big portion. But they were a big tough and chewy. The chicken was a bit bland but again a big portion and juicy. But the best was the beef luleh kebob, ground beef. There was so much flavor and not a bit dry. I normally do not order luleh kebobs but I'm glad the luleh was included in this combo. It was very good and among the best luleh kebobs I've had. Service is good. It's a mom and pop operation and very friendly. I would go back to Mediterranean Triangle anytime. It's almost as good as Shiraz for their shish kebobs.

Colombo's

Colombo's
1833 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles
323-254-9138

I heard about Colombo's about three years ago. I drove past it when I went to the Blue Hen last year and Casa Bianca, this past summer. So finally I decided to go to Colombo's for dinner.

This old style restaurant has red vinyl seats, wood planeling and grandmas as servers. What I didn't know was they have live entertainment, the night I went they had a nice jazz band.

I didn't realize Colombo's billed itself as an Italian steakhouse. So I decided to try their cracked peppeer crusted New York strip steak, $17.95. The steak was topped with crispy onions, in a red wine sauce and came with parmesan veggies and a baked potato, but I asked for double veggies. The steak was cooked perfectly, medium rare. It had a very nice flavor and tenderness. It wasn't melt in your mouth, tender but it was very tender and good for the price. But I didn't taste any of the red wine sauce. I tasted a lot of the cracked pepper which added to the flavor of the steak. The veggies were great though I only ate the carrots and broccoli. They were cooked just right. A little crispy but not too crispy and just soft enough that you didn't feel like you were eating raw veggies.

The sauteed shrimp served scampi style looked very good. Huge, jumbo shrimp in a white wine sauce served with linguini. The chicken parmesan looked so good. Two huge breaded breast pieces topped with mozzarella and tomato sauce served with spaghetti.

The service was just plain terrible. The old lady was nice enough. But I asked for steak sauce and never got it. We asked for lemons for the shrimp scampi and never got it. After she dropped off our dinners, she didn't come back until she dropped off the check. The busboy refilled our drinks. She didn't come back to ask how everything was. She wasn't rude when she was actually at our table but we weren't getting any attention from her.

I would go back to Colombo's but I would not want the server we had. She was just plain terrible. But the food and prices are very good.

Casa Bianca

Casa Bianca
1650 Colorado
LA
323-256-9617

Expectations. There are some places that I have high expectations for. Casa Bianca is one of them. I have heard so many good things about the pizza at Casa Bianca. Well they didn't come close to being met.

Casa Bianca is in the Eagle Rock area of LA. I was very impressed when I saw the American flag flying in front the restaurant. When I put my name on the list, they said the wait would be about 45 minutes. I understood, it's a Saturday night and they were busy. So we wait and do get seated in that 45 minute time frame. We order a half pepperoni and half cheese pizza. The server told us the pizza is taking longer than usual. We figured no problem. Well the pizza finally arrives and it looks burnt. It was certainly too well done. The pepperoni was also burned and/or too well done. I wasn't impressed at all. We had been waiting for so long and it would have taken another 20-30 minutes for another pizza to arrive.

Other than the wait, the service was good. Our server was friendly and attentive. She can't help how slow the cooks are. But overall service there is below average.

Casa Bianca was a huge disappointment. I would not go back again. Even if there wasn't a wait, the pizza was terrible. A good pizza place wouldn't mess up on pizza, even on a slow night.

Update August 13, 2009.



Ok I said I wouldn't go back to Casa Bianca but I did make it back. Actually after the diaster at Palate, a group went to Casa Bianca and had a large sausage pizza which was sooo damn good compared to the first time I went. I was so impressed, I had to go back again.

So I went back and got half sausage and half pepperoni, $17.40. This wasn't as good as the sausage pizza I got earlier but still much better than the first time I went. First the pizza wasn't burnt, so that is always a plus. The crust was the same thin crust. Lots of toppings and cheese.

The pepperoni slices were just too salty for my taste. Not a good start.

The sausage was much better. They make their own sausage at Casa Bianca. A good quality sausage with fennel seeds inside, well seasoned and tasty. Sausage is the way to go at Casa Bianca.

One thing I did find out, Casa Bianca cuts their pizza in a Star of David shape, not the traditional way.

Service was good. I was greeted right away when I walked in and the young girl, who took my order, was very nice.

Again sausage is the way to go at Casa Bianca. I'm glad that I'm a very opened minded person and gave Casa Bianca another chance. Would I rush back, not really. But I'm not so against going to Casa Bianca again.

Blue Hen-Closed

Blue Hen
1743 Colorado
Los Angeles
323-982-9900

Blue Hen is a Vietnamese restaurant that serves organic items. I was willing to give it a try, even though Vietnamese isn't a type of food I like.

I ordered the Blue Hen Salad which is organic chicken, cabbage, carrots,peanuts, and herbs with a shallot-garlic dressing I asked for the soy and not the fish sauce dressing for $9 include tax and tip.

The salad arrives and there is a ton of fresh cabbage and carrots. But there is very little chicken. They use a small amount of dressing, which I like, I hate salad that is drowned in dressing. The dressing was light and didn't overpower the cabbage. I didn't get much, if any, garlic taste, which is good since I do not like garlic.

Service was good and they get a very steady crowd on a Monday night. The owners are very friendly and helpful.

But I wouldn't go back to Blue Hen. The salad was mostly cabbage and very little chicken. I know organic chicken maybe expensive but paying $7 for a cabbage salad isn't a good value.