Alina's Lebanese Cuisine

Alina's Lebanese Cuisine
2250 S Archibald Ave
Suite B
Ontario
909-947-2070

I am amazed to find Middle Eastern cuisine in the eastern part of the Inland Empire. I heard about Alina's Lebanese Cuisine, a few months ago and decided to give them a try.

I finally got a chance to try Alina's Lebanese Cuisine and overall, I was impressed.



Beef kebob, $10.99, with salad, rice and hummus. The salad was romaine lettuce topped with some pita chips. The lettuce was very fresh and was topped with a citrus dressing.

The rice is a rice pilaf, that had a nice flavor, though they could have made the portion size just a bit bigger.

The hummus was exactly how I like hummus, smooth texture and a mild, not tangy or sour taste.

The beef kebobs, were a bit dry, tough and lacked flavor and seasoning. The beef was select grade beef, it was tough and lacked flavor. The only good thing about the beef is the portion size, about half a pound of beef.



Chicken kebob, $8.99, also included the hummus and salad. But, what the beef lacked in flavor and seasoning, the chicken had it and more!! The chicken, about half a pound of white meat chicken, was cooked perfectly, so tender and quickly. And what flavor- good middle eastern seasonings, topped with lemon juicy.

Service was very good. The owner is nice and helpful.

I would go back to Alina's Lebanese Cuisine. While I didn't care for the beef kebobs, overall, I was impressed with quality of chicken kebobs and portion size.

Vince's Spaghetti

Vince's Spaghetti
1206 W Holt Blvd
Ontario
909-986-7074

Vince's Spaghetti. An Inland Empire institution that I've been meaning to try, but one friend is adamant about not going to Vince's. But another friend wanted to have lunch and he lives close to Vince's so we decide to go have lunch at Vince's. What is interesting and lucky, was that we had planned to meet o Wednesday but plans changed and we met Thrusday; a lucky break because Vince's is closed on Wednesday.




As the name say it's all about spaghetti, but I wanted to try the French dip sandwich, $5.95. The French dip, was huge, piled with with lean, tender, though a bit dry beef. They dip the bottom piece of bread in au jus and give you a cup of au jus. The au jus is really their vegetable beef soup without the veggies. It has a tomato base/flavor. It was pretty good. I liked the bread, which has a french roll-soft, chewy and held up to the dip.

Service was pretty good, until it came time to pay the bill. Our server dropped off the check and never came back. I know you're not suppose to pay in the front, other tables were getting their checks picked up by their servers. We waited around for about ten minutes before we gave the bill to another server. Other than that, she was fine.

I enjoyed my french dip and I would go back for the French dip sandwich. But my friend got the spaghetti and it was so watery. I'm not expecting gourmet Italian food at Vince's. It's comfort food, but that spaghetti did not look appetizing. I may try it one day, but I'm not in a rush.

Casa Sanchez

Casa Sanchez
2264 S Mountain Ave
Ontario
909-983-2826

I must have passed Casa Sanchez, 100's of times, I've even reviewed two restaurants, Birrieria Moreno's and JJ's Fish and BBQ that about a mile north.

I was craving Mexican food and I finally decided to give them a try.





I got the wet chicken burrito, $7.25, chicken, beans, enchilada sauce. This was pretty good up to a point. The chicken was nice and tender and the beans well cooked. But it was a bit bland and Mexican food is not bland. The chicken tasted as though it was boiled and almost no seasoning. The red sauce enchilada sauce was pretty good, nice spicy good flavor. But they sauce shouldn't cover up the lack of seasoning for the inside of the burrito. I did like the large amount of sour cream they put on the side. The sour cream added a cooling affect to the enchilada sauce.



But as I came to the last quarter of the burrito, there were some tough stringy in my mouth. You can see them in the above picture. At first I thought it maybe the corn husks used to make tamales. But I told the server and she said they were dried up pieces of chicken. Almost like chicken jerky.

Not good and certainly something that made an average burrito, below average.

Service was pretty good. The server was nice and friendly and helpful.

I would not go back to Casa Sanchez again, even if the chicken jerky was in my burrito. There are a ton of other Mexican restaurants, where I can get a much better burrito.

Dave and Buster's- Ontario

Dave and Busters
4821 Mills Circle
Ontario
909-987-1557

Now I'm not one to go to many chain restaurants. But I see the ads all the time for Dave and Buster's Eat and Play Combo, $15.99, where you get a meal and $10 game card. Now it if you're there to enjoy the arcade games, then it is a great deal. But if you don't care about the games, it can be a decent to bad deal.

I went there for lunch and got The Boss Chicken Club sandiwch, $9.29, which has seven layers of goodies. Grilled chicken breast, applewood smoked bacon, creamy garlic-herb cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado spread and frazzled onions, all stacked on a toasted whole wheat bun with secret sauce, with french fries on the side.

I was impressed with the sandwich but I didn't like the avocado spread, give me mayo or honey mustard. But overall a very good sandwich. The chicken breast was tender but a bit bland. The bacon was great, nice smokey flavor and crispy. The bun could have been toasted a bit more but it was fine.

My only issue with the sandwich was the onions, some were burnt or too well done. That meant a bitter flavor to the sandwich. Next time I will ask for mayo and no onions on the sandwich.

The fries were great. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and they were long cut.

Service was good. The server was hard working, friendly and helpful. The place wasn't too crowded but he came by his tables on a regular basis.

The Boss Chicken Club sandwich with the Eat and Play Combo would have been $15.99. $6 more than the sandwich alone. So the combo wasn't that great of a deal. Though there are other food options that would make this a very good deal. But I think the sandwich is worth the regular menu price.

Baker's Drive Thru- Ontario

Baker's Drive Thru
2555 S Archibald Ave
Ontario
909-673-0109

Baker's has been around since 1952 and claims to be the first drive-thru in America. I ordered the Mama Combo 1, cheeseburger, fries, and a drink, $5.05. The cheeseburger is a thin pattie, with cheese, thousand island dressing, lettuce, and tomato. The burger is very bland and flavorless. The burger needs more seasoning.

The fries were pretty standard fast food fries. Nothing great.

There are no refills on soda!!!! What fast food restaurant, these days, does not have free refills on soda? Not a good business plan, Baker's.

Service was terrible. When I walked in there was a couple in the dining room. Nobody else was in the restaurant. I ordered and took a seat in the dining room. The table had a view of the counter and the kitchen. While waiting for my burger, I saw the burger sitting on the tray for at least 3-4 minutes. The manager finally called the girl who took my order and told her to take out my order. The burger and fries I had would have been hotter, if it wasn't sitting around.

The girl who took my order was the typical teenager who hates working and has a terrible attitude. When I went back to ask for a refill on the soda, she just said 25 cents. No "That will be 25 cents" Just plain rude.

I would not go back to Baker's again. Flavorless burgers, bad service and pretty high prices all make for a forgettable experience.

Philly's Sandwich and Grill

Philly's Sandwich and Grill
1701 S Grove Ave Ste B
Ontario
909-947-5755

The first time I went to Philly's Sandwich and Grill was on September 11, 2001. Even now, a little over eight years from that terrible day, I can remember everything about going to Philly's Sandwich and Grill.

I went back there today for the first time since Septemeber 11, 2001. I got the large Philly Cheesesteak, $6.99. The cheesesteak took awhile to come. The large cheesesteak is cut in half and seperated. But as you can see it looks as though all the cheese is on one half of the sandwich. Some of the meat, in the half without much cheese, was burnt, charred. Not good. Some of the meat in the other half, was cooked just right. It's almost as though I got two different sandwiches. There is nothing special about these cheesesteak. They won't remind you of being in Philly. But it's a decent enough sandwich, filling.

I sat in the dining area and it was so surreal. The TV was set to a news channel. People were eating and talking about anything and everything. It reminded me so much of the first time I went there. They didn't have a TV back then, but of course people were talking about what happened in New York, Washington D. C. and PA.

Service was good. The young lady who took my order was nice and friendly. She also was working her butt off. I saw her take orders, take orders to people's tables and and out, take out orders. She takes her job seriously. But the wait for the cheesesteak seemed very long. Yes, it was a bit crowded but it shouldn't have taken as long as it did. Of course that's not the young lady's fault.

I doubt I'll come back to Philly's Sandwich and Grill anytime soon. Again, there is nothing special about the food. It's good enough food, prices are reasonable, and the service I got from the cashier was very good. But there are many other places to eat around there.

Birrieria Moreno's

Birrieria Moreno's
1745 S Mountain Ave
Ontario
909-395-5567

I am a fan of hole in the wall Mexican places. Most of them have great tacos with good quality meats, like Taqueria De Anda. Too bad Birrieria Moreno's isn't one of them.

I ordered a el pastor, carne asada, and carnitas tacos, a carne asada torta and a soda, $12.99!!!
First of all the tacos have too much cilantro and onions for my tastes. The el pastor was the most flavorful taco, with nice blend of spices. But the pork was fatty and tough. Not a big fan.

The carne asada taco was terrible. WAY too much fat!!! Some of the fat was fried to a crisp, not good.

The carnitas taco was OK. Not much flavor though.

The carne asada taco torta was also very, very fatty. How can they serve such bad meat? There was barely any beans, lettuce or sour cream on the torta. The bun was pretty good, nicely grilled, but soft on the outside and held up well to the meat, beans, and lettuce. But who cares if the meat is terrible.

Service is OK. But this is a very expensive place. Tacos are $1.50, the torta was $4.75. What a ripoff especially when you consider how bad the meats were. I would not come back here again. As I left I saw they had a B rating from the health department.

JJ's Fish and BBQ-Closed

JJ's Fish and BBQ
814 Mountain
Ontario
909-460-7727

The "909" doesn't have many good BBQ places. JJ's would be about the middle of the pack. JJ's isn't bad but it's not great either. There are two tables at JJ's but this is a take out. If you can't wait to eat the BBQ, take the food into Jack in the Box, which is in the same parking lot, buy a soda and dig in.

I ordered the rib lunch, with rice, for $7.75. I saw a smoker in the back and I was informed that mesquite is used to smoke the meat. Well there isn't the classic smoke ring and there wasn't any smoke flavor. The ribs are rubbed with lots and lots of paprika. But the ribs are on the tough and small size. Also I think he uses a microwave oven to reheat the ribs. I liked the tomato based sauce. Very good combination of spices, again lots of paprika.

JJ's is OK but I don't see the need to go back. Service is good.

Donahoo's Golden Chicken Ontario

Donahoo's Golden Chicken
1117 N Grove Ave,
Ontario, CA 91764
(909) 983-4319

Update August 26, 2012

I went back to Donahoo's and posted another review at The New Diner 2.

I have been to the Donahoo's in Riverside and Donahoo's in Pomona. So Today, June 30th, I went to Donahoo's Ontario location to see if there is any difference in quality. The owner in Ontario told me he's bought his store from the Donahoo's and has owned the store since 1965. I also found out that there are three Donahoo's. Pomona, Ontario, and Riverside. I ordered two breast pieces for about $4.30. The chicken was hot and fresh. But not as crunchy or seasoned as the Pomona location. But still good tasting chicken. I prefer the Pomona location. But I would go to the Ontario location again without any hang ups. Maybe later this summer, I will go to the Riverside location and post a review.

Update: Today September 26th I went back and ordered two breast pieces so I can take a picture. The chicken was a little undercooked. The older man wanted to take out the chicken about five minutes before the actually came out. I could tell just by looking the chicken wasn't done. Not a good thing for the chicken to be undercooked. Not sure if I would go back