Peter's Gourmade Grill-Closed

Peter's Gourmade Grill
16851 McFadden Ave
Tustin
714-599-3866

Update Dec 26, 2010: The owner of Peter's Gourmade Grill threatened to get my Yelp account taken away. Why? They got my Yelp review taken away, when I gave Peter's Gourmade one star because they never answered their phone. Now, stupid Yelp, gave the reason, I didn't have first hand experience with the business. Well, trying to call, during listed open hours, and not getting an answer is first hand experience. If you call a restaurant or any business and they do not answer the phone, what are you thinking? They are closed, right?

As I mentioned in my review, the day I went, the lady was talking to a friend, who was sitting at the bar. Why they can't answer their phone is beyond me. What is worse is all the excuses she gave me, we're busy.

The fact that any business owner can get reviews changed or removed from Yelp, proves Yelp reviews are not fair and unbiased.

I will not go to Peter's Gourmade again. Bad service isn't something I want to return to. They need to learn about simple customer service, answering the phone.

Update: Since writing this review, the owner contacted me. We talked about them not answering the phone during business hours. She assured me, they are open during their listed hours, even though they do not answer the phone. Their hours are 11am-3pm and 6pm-10pm. That means they are closed from 3pm to 6pm. They also have a website: Peter's Gourmade.

I find it refreshing that an owner wants to do things right and cares about customer service. I've always said, it's not so much making a mistake, it's how you handle the mistake. Since I love the burgers, I will be back soon.

When I first heard about Peter's Gourmade Grill in the Orange County Register, and I was looking forward to trying it. A gourmet burger place, in a gas station, sounded like a great hidden gem.

The owner is a classically trained chef, who worked at some top restaurants and then opened up his own restaurant.

There are about five chairs for people to eat, but this is mainly a take out location.



I got the swiss mushroom, bacon burger, $4.75, angus burger with swiss cheese, mushrooms, lettuce, and onions.

WOW, this burger was great. I loved it. But, the first bite was a bit bland. But the next bite, a huge burst of flavor. The swiss cheese, the tender mushrooms, the bacon, the angus beef just worked so well together. The bun helped up well to the burgers and all the toppings. Some parts of the bacon was undercooked, but otherwise, this was a great burger.

Service, was very good while ordering. The lady, greeted me when I walked up and was nice and friendly.

My issue with Peter's Gourmade is that they never answer their phone. I always call before trying a new place, to make sure they are still in business and/or opened. I've learned because there were some restaurants on my list, that by the time I wanted to go there, the restaurant was out of business.

But, I tried to call Peter's Gourmade, three times last week, during the hours listed on Yelp, and on their answering machine; but all three times, nobody answered the phone. Tustin is a bit far for me to drive for nothing. But, today I figured, I would go and if they were not opened and there was no sign saying why they were closed, I would take pictures and then give a bad review. Luckily, they were open.

But, while I was waiting for my burger, the girl was talking to one of her friends, who was sitting at the counter. If she has time to talk to a friend, she needs to find time to answer the phone. I went around noon, and it was a bit busy but I can't imagine it was that busy the three days I called last week, that they couldn't answer the phone.

I did find out, the phone number listed is a cell number and you can text in your order. That's fine, since I've already been there, but if it's your first time it's hard to know what you want, since there is no online menu. I was informed by the owner, that Peter's Gourmade, does have a website: Peter's Gourmade.

I'm a big fan of Peter's Gourmade and I love their burgers. I believe it's the best burger in Orange County. I will be back, but if they are closed, at a time when they are suppose to be open and there is no sign, you can be sure I'll let readers of The New Diner know about it.

The Auld Dubliner

The Auld Dubliner
2497 Park Ave
Tustin
714-259-1562

The Auld Dubliner is an Irish pub stuck in the middle of a new development Tustin, called The District. As with all Irish bars, it's filled with drunk idiots, below average bar food, and stupid people pretending to be Irish. Why anybody would want to be known as a drunk, moron, like all Irish are, I have no idea.

I ordered the small order of wings, $7.99. The wings were huge but I think they were baked and the sauce wasn't hot at all. The wings did have a lot of meat but I got too many of the wing part, I want more drummettes. The wings were about the same as Hooter's wings. One thing I did like is that the ranch dressing came in a wide bowl. It made it much easier to dip the wings it.

Service was pretty good. The server was nice and friendly and even though there was a big crowd, she got my food quickly.

I do not like going to Irish bars. Just too many drunk idiots around. You won't see me anywhere close to a Irish bar on St. Patty's day. But The Auld Dubliner is among the worst. The food is below average and just being around a bunch of drunk idiot micks isn't my idea of fun.

Joey's Smokin BBQ- Tustin-Closed

Joey's Smokin BBQ
2933 El Camino Real
Tustin, CA 92782
714-544-4106

I know I said I wouldn't go back to a Joey's Smokin BBQ after having their terrible ribs at their Manhattan Beach location. But I decided why not give them another chance. After all, they could improve. So I decided to try their Tustin location. Big mistake.

I ordered the half rack of dry rub baby back ribs, $12.99, buffalo wings, $5.99, and a pulled pork sandwich, $6.99.

The ribs were among the worst I've ever had. No smoked flavor, very dry, with lots of fat and grizzle. Not even sauce could save this terrible rack of ribs. If there is no pink in ribs, they are NOT smoked!!!! Ribs should not be boiled then cooked in an oven. Ribs should not be cooked with liquid smoke. Ribs should not be baby backs either!!!

The pulled pork sandwich was very dry, also had lots of fat and the bun was soggy for some reason. No reason to be soggy since there wasn't much BBQ sauce. A terrible example of what pulled pork should be.

The Manhattan Beach location had great buffalo wings. But the Tustin location had among the worst wings I've ever had. Look how small those wings are. No meat at all. The Manhattan Beach location the wings were huge and had a ton of meat.

Service was TERRIBLE. I got there a bit early, so I ordered a drink and the girl taking my order was rude, unfriendly and just a bitch. I paid for my drink in cash but didn't get a discount, even though they were running a pay cash and get a 7% discount. Now the discount isn't that big of a deal. But when she gave me my change she never said Thank You or even bothered to look at me.

I placed my food order with who I think is the manager and he was a moron too. I asked for a to go box for 3-4 ribs and the macaroni salad. He gives me a box that would fit a hot dog. Now he's either stupid or blind. But I wanted a box for both. But maybe it's a good thing after all the bad food, the mac salad might have made me sick.

Also the restaurant was hot as hell. I saw the tempurature setting on the air conditioner and it was set at 82. They need to drop the tempurature in that restaurant.

I will NEVER go back to any Joey's Smokin BBQ again. Terrible food, terrible service and the prices are a bit high.

Honda Ya-Tustin

Honda Ya-Tustin
556 El Camino Real
Tustin
714-832-0081

Honda Ya is a Yakitori style, Japanese restaurant. My understanding is that Yakitori means small plates.

Edamanme, $2.95. They were warm and had a little sprinkle of salt on top. Pretty fresh.

Crunchy roll, $5.00. A nice sized piece of shrimp, that was very crunchy. The rice and other ingredients were very fresh and tasty. I thought it was so good, I ordered the crunchy hand roll!!! This was as good as the cut roll. Though the cut roll was $8.

The best dish was the ginger pork, $5.50. What wonderful flavor. So good. The pork was stir fried and mixed with green onions and bean sprouts. Oh sooo good.

My least favorite was the crab shu mai, $5.95. This was very mushy and flavorless. There was more fillers, than crab. I would stay away from this dish.

I did enjoy the tankatsu, $5.95, deep fried pork cutlet. This was a good sized piece and well worth the price. It had a very nice crispy outside and inside the pork was tender and flavorful.

Service was pretty good, though at times you had to ask twice for something.

I would go back to Honda Ya anytime.

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.

Sharky's Woodfired Mexican Grill Tustin-Closed

Sharky's Woodfired Mexican Grill
2463 Park Ave
Tustin
714-258-2255

Ok, readers of The New Diner maybe asking, what the hell is he doing reviewing a chain? I know it's a chain but I've never been to Sharky's and wanted to give it a try.

I ordered the tempura battered Mahi Mahi $3.49 and the charbroiled fish taco, $3.49.
The tempura battered Mahi Mahi has, cabbage, cheese, pico de gallo and salsa on a flour tortilla. This was a fairly big piece of mahi mahi, with a nice cruncy and flakely moist inside. They could have put more pico de gallo but adding salsa from their salsa bar made this less dry.

The charbroiled fish taco was made with mahi mahi. I didn't care for this too much. There wasn't that much mahi mahi and again it was dry. The little mahi mahi was nicely charbroiled and tasty. But there just wasn't enough. Not worth the $3.49 price tag.

Service is good and the food comes fresh and hot.

This location of Sharky's, is at the new, The District shopping center. Many mapquest and GSP do not have The District listed. They will send you to someplace in Irvine.

I prefer other places like Rubios and Baja Fresh to Sharky's. I think Sharky's is fairly pricey and not worth the high prices.

Uoko

Uoko
17582 E. 17th St
Tustin
714-838-2300

I don't expect Tustin to have any good sushi restaurants. But much to my surprise, I found Uoko. A very good sushi place just east of the 55 freeway.

I got the yellowtail, $3.75, halibut, $3.75, and salmon sushi, $3.75. All the fish were fresh and flavorful. They use good quality fish here.

I got the crunchy roll, $8.50, shrimp tempura, special crab, veggies and a sweet eel sauce. This was very good, with a large shrimp tempura and fresh imitation crab and veggies.

The spider roll, $9.50, with softshell crab, special crab and veggies was awesome. The softshell crab was tasty and fresh. A wonderful combination of textures and flavors.

We sat at the sushi bar and service was very good. Nice friendly sushi chef and server.

I would go back to Uoko. Good quality sushi at good prices. A very nice combination.

RA Sushi-Tustin

RA Sushi
2401 Park Ave
Tustin
714-566-1700

I went to the RA Sushi in Scottsdale, AZ and was very impressed with the quality of the sushi. So when I heard that RA opened a location in Tustion, I decided to try their happy hour. You can find their happy hour menu here. http://www.rasushi.com/ra2006.4xm.swf

I had the spicy tuna roll, $3.75 and the shrimp tempura roll, $4.75. The spicy tuna was very spicy, I needed lots of water after eating this. It was very fresh and tasty.

The shrimp tempura roll was also very fresh. But I thought the shrimp was a bit small. I know it's happy hour prices and they gotta make their money somehow.

Service was very good. Happy Hour is served in the bar area. The server was very nice and friendly and helpful.

I would go back to RA Sushi again. But they are on the pricey side for dinner. But I think it's worth it because they have very good quality sushi.

Crab Cooker

Crab Cooker
17269 17th St.
Tustin
714-573-1077

Crab Cooker started in Newport Beach and has a location in Tustin. I ordered the large shrimp cocktail for $5.95 and the cracked dungeness crab for $16.20.

The shrimp cocktail was fresh. Nothing special but I couldn't help but think I could have gone to a Von's or Albertson's and for about the same price gotten much more shrimp.

The cracked dungeness crab was served cold. The crab was ok. A little bitter and that's not something you find in dungeness crab. The rice pilov was a little overcooked.

Service here sucks. When I got there, the host gave me the menu and told me to find any table I want. I though the job of a host was to take people to their tables. Then I waited at least ten minutes before I got any type of service. The waitress was OK though it took forever to get refills on water and ice tea.

I wouldn't go back to Crab Cooker again. Way too many other good restaurants with much better service and food.

Casa Gamino-Closed

Casa Gamino
13041 Newport Ave,
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 505-5971

Casa Gamino has five locations in the LA area. Interesting they have two locations in the Orange Curtain, including the Old Town Tustin. I had been to this location about five years ago and thought the food was good and the prices were better.

The prices are still good but the food isn't great. I ordered the tostado special with chicken for about $9 tax and tip included. The tostado had lettuce, two kinds of cheese, a tomato slice, beans and this nasty red sauce. The chicken, though plentiful, was very bland and flavorless. The tostado was crispy and flakey. The other ingredients were fresh but the tostado wasn't good because the chicken was so bad.

Service was average. The busboy was very good, he always kept the water glasses and chips and salsa filled. But the waitress took awhile to take our order, even though there wasn't anybody there. She was nice, just a little slow.

I wouldn't go back to Casa Gamino. Too many places closer to me with better food and even better prices. If I were in the Tustin area, I would go to El Gallo Giro in Santa Ana.