Did anybody mention Off the Hook Fish Grill in Whittier?
No, but I’ve been in there several times. I like it for lunch. The All Hooked Up Noodles with Shrimp is solid. I don’t like it as well as Kickin’ Crab, but it’s decent for the area.
On another note, I had lunch at D’Vine in Brea today. I’m not a chicken schwarma expert, but theirs is awesome. Very well seasoned. The beet salad I had on the side would have benefitted from some salt, but this is a great option in the area.
Another great and unique option in the area is Mr. Katsu for katsu sandwiches. I tried to go for lunch today, but the person I was meeting for lunch “doesn’t like that kind of food”. Go figure.
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These sound good. Thanks! Maybe we’ll start visiting them more often, instead of the other way around. They always come to us, because we’re near Beverly/Grove area. But looks like you guys are doing just fine out there 
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We sometimes get Pizzamania here at work for our crew. It’s a decent pie and scratches the itch, when needed. I just don’t agree with a lot of their pricing.
@Novelli How so? Pricing for pizza reminds me of Round Table…a bit more than those Pizza Hut or Domino’s throwaways. The salad I’ll agree I was bilked on, didn’t order anything else nor do I remember looking that hard at the menu for other items.
I’m not one for turkey burgers, but I am a fan of those tacos…they’re so good. The Bottle Room makes a pretty solid burger. Thanks for the photos, @TheCookie!
You’re welcome. Yeah… I’m not a turkey burger eater. I prefer chicken burgers. But there are people who just love them.
Thanks, @teriyakichi, for the Moros rec. Went with a friend. We had the ceviche, the tostones rellenos, and the Moros chicken sandwich. The strawberry guava auga de Moros was perfect on a hot summer day. My favorite dish was the tostones rellenos…crisp and chewy tostone with delightfully seasoned beef and avocado on top.
The chicken sandwich was pretty solid…well-cooked and well-seasoned chicken on a crisp roll with lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and a light schmear of mayo.
I would definitely come back.
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Ended up at Portillo’s yesterday after doing some shopping at the mall. I wasn’t too hungry, so I just got the regular Chicago dog (I like meat in tube form a la Anthony Bourdain), a small fries, and an Arnold Palmer. The Chicago dog was good…I enjoyed the poppyseed bun. The only thing missing was a nice casing on the hot dog…I love a good snap. The fries were crispy and crinkle-cut. I will have to try the Italian beef next time. Not bad for a a quick meal.
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National Waffle Day warranted a trip to Mrs. Bea’s Chicken and Waffles. Our server, Reggie was a delightful mix of enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We started with an order of smothered fries…housemade gravy and sautéed onions.
They have 6 types of waffles…and plenty of chicken. Reggie suggested the cornbread waffle to go with my leg and 2 thigh 3 piece meal. The waffle really did taste like cornbread in waffle form…the crispness from the cornmeal was just fantastic. The chicken skin was super good and so was the meat, but I thought it was rather on the greasy side. I almost forgot to take a picture.
My kids tried the cake batter waffle…which had a heavy enough hit of vanilla to make it taste like cake.
I had a peach tea that tasted more like artificial syrup than tea, and the kids tried grape soda that (I think) tasted a little like Dimatap cough syrup. Maybe stick to just water or lemonade or an unsweetened Arnold Palmer next time.
It was not Roscoe’s…and I’m glad it was different. Roscoe’s is one of a kind…you really shouldn’t imitate that. I missed having Red Rooster hot sauce to douse my chicken and waffles with, but they did have a spicy vinegar that’s available.
Overall, we had a fairly good experience and will likely be back to try the other waffle offerings.
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I can’t believe I haven’t gotten in there yet. It’s been on my radar since they opened, but I’m not living in the area anymore. A friend of mine was there yesterday and said it was great.
Went to Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern last night in Yorba Linda. Located in the Whole Foods shopping center, it’s got an eclectic group of businesses in the same strip. There was no wait given we were walking in a bit late for dinner.
We ordered drinks, and the bar was quite good. A watermelon margarita and a house margarita to start. My second drink was a raspberry mojito, and that was a bit on the strong side…but I wasn’t driving so who cares?
Started with the house made chips drizzled with blue cheese dressing because I am a fiend for fresh fried potato chips. The blue cheese dressing was a bit on the light side where it was more like ranch and less like blue cheese to me. Not sure they drained the chips enough because the bottom of the dish had chips that were a tad on the soggy side.
We also tried the whiskey shrimp. The shrimp were cooked extraordinarily well…I just found the sauce slightly overpowering. The hit of whiskey was strong and there was a bit of seasoning. I would have preferred a hit of spice.
The fried chicken was recommended by our server. The chicken was well-cooked and the exterior was very crispy, but I think the coating was a bit too thick…like they floured and battered the chicken twice. The mashed potatoes and green beans as sides were good. My photo skills were off last night…couldn’t crop the hand out properly.
The Jimmy burger had pimento cheese and bacon. We opted to skip the jalapeño jam. It was a good, solid burger. Sorry…the kid tried to get into the photo.
The Santa Fe Caesar with rare steak was a great choice. They grill the romain ever so slightly. The dressing was well-blended with cilantro…super good, and the steak was indeed rare and tasty.
Overall, good experience. I wanted drinks with dinner and this was a good choice because the bar alleviated some of the day’s stress and the food was good.
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Thanks for the report! I’ve been meaning to get in there.
@OCSteve I’m on an endeavor to try one new place each week, and this list is so comprehensive. It may take sometime to go through it, but I will say it’s great fun to get out and see new parts of town that I’ve likely never been to. I didn’t realize that this was only about 15 mins from the house.
It’s great to have you in the neighborhood. I don’t live up there anymore, but I work out of my Brea office every other week, so I’m still up there.
If you’re in the mood for non-fancy Mexican, I’ll add De Oro La Puerta on Kraemer/Birch and Tacos San Pedro on Imperial/Bastanchury. Tacos San Pedro was selling some pretty great tamales last Christmas.
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This week’s had us trying two new places.
Thai Noodle & BBQ (Whittier)
Serviceable Thai take-out and delivery. It’s literally down the street from us, and we wanted something new. The dinner specials offer huge portions. you get soup, salad, shrimp-fried rice, an entrée, and a drink. We tried the Pad Thai with pork…pork was cooked well, but the tamarind was super strong. We had better luck with the chicken with basil leaves. They have daily noodle specials that will set you back about $6. Need serviceable, reasonably priced Thai? This could work for you.
Mendocino Farms (Yorba Linda)
This was clearly the winner of the week. The pork belly banh mi is likely the best non-Vietnamese version I’ve ever tried. Just the right kind of crusty roll, a schmear of mayo, the best non-Mom-made pickled vegetables I’ve ever had, and very good Karobuta pork belly. My husband and I were thoroughly impressed. We had the quinoa and kale salad with chipotle vinaigrette…which had a real chipotle kick and was very nice. We also tried the Billionaire BLT. It had lovely heirloom tomatoes and the glazed thick-cut bacon was quite good. In fact, writing about the sandwiches makes me want to go back…but is it worth it to pay $10+ for a sandwich I could get for a third of that price elsewhere…I’ve it quite figured that out.
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Forgot to mention that we made it to Sol Inka (La Mirada), formerly Mario’s. I am happy to report that the servers, the chefs, and the recipes are all the same. The sangria was nice considering it had been warm that day, and the yucca with sauce tasted just like it should. I only ever get the Lomo Saltado there, however the last time (while it was still Mario’s) it was a tad dry so the fries didn’t soak up much sauce. I asked for extra “juicy” and I got exactly what I ordered, but perhaps at the expense of overcooked beef…the beef had never been overcooked previously. With nice dots of aji sauce, it still tasted good. The kids ordered the house made chicken and fries (not to be confused with chicken nuggets), and they loved it. So glad to find that this place hasn’t changed that much.
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Yes and as you mentioned probably one of the most expensive. The salads and sandwiches as Mendocino are great. Whenever we order the banh mi we get extra pork belly just to make sure every bite has a good amount of porkiness. We struggle with the price/value at MF as well. They source good ingredients and the food is tasty.
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A third of the price??? Where???
I do think Mendocino Farms is a touch overpriced, but given how fast the service is, the quality of the ingredients, etc, etc, etc, I think it’s quite good overall. I would find it to be AMAZING, if the sandwiches were each about $2 less. 
@paranoidgarliclover I didn’t mean to imply that Mendocino was overrated/overpriced…I probably should have said that if I wanted a banh mi, I can easily get a real banh mi at a Vietnamese joint for a third of the price without needing a sandwich inspired by banh mi.
I liken this to when STREET by Susan Feniger was still around…when they served a $20 bowl of pho. Why spend that much when you can roll into a real pho place and get one for $7? I kind of feel like this in this instance…however, if I go to Mendocino again, at least there’s something I know that I’ll enjoy.