Ed (from Yuma), not Kirk and not Cathy, is posting at mmm-yoso!!! today. About 2 restaurants (in Yuma).
Da Boyz
More than 10 years ago, a pizzeria opened in Yuma Foothills called Da Boyz. At first, we all assumed that this was some new national chain since the decor and logos were very professional. In fact, there are two other locations, one in La Mesa and one in Rancho San Diego. I have no idea about either of them. Similarly, I haven't eaten in the Foothills branch of Da Boyz in five years or more. Why? Because Da Boyz took over and renovated a beautiful large location in old town Yuma on Main Street:
It has extremely high ceilings and a lot of space:
Separate rooms decorated with pictures of Marilyn Monroe or the rat pack or Elvis are available for groups and special occasions. Here are some pictures from the Elvis room:
I like Da Boyz. The service is professional and this location is extremely well-managed. While the beer selection is largely conventional, there are usually at least one or two seasonal brews available:
To my taste, this is the best eat-in pizza restaurant in town – not just because of the nice atmosphere – but because the pizzas are good:
The crusts are real bread crusts:
A wide variety of toppings are available:
And the cheese is flavorful and real:
In addition, the salads are huge:
A small salad can be a filling meal or provide side salads (as shown here) for 2 to 4 eaters:
Leaving just an empty bowl:
Even though the lettuces are nothing special, a garden salad will have pepperoncini, sliced olives, bell pepper, red onion, tomato, and cucumber. The Italian dressing is surprisingly tasty.
Of course, there is more than just pizza and salad. While I find the pasta to be pretty ordinary with unremarkable sauce and overcooked noodles, some of their sandwiches make a nice lunch. Here's the meatball (or perhaps sausage?):
When I'm looking for something slightly healthier, the turkey and provolone is good (this is half a sandwich – I share sometimes):
Da Boyz is one of those restaurants that I should have posted about years ago because it is part of my standard rotation and is a local favorite, having been voted the best pizza in town in the most recent newspaper poll. OK, so I finally got around to it.
Brewers
Just a note: Brewers now serves pizza and the menu has changed, but it still has good sandwiches etc.
A more recent addition to the Yuma dining scene is another large restaurant called Brewers:
The story of this restaurant – as I've been told by several different people – is that it is owned and operated by the individual who was once the husband of the owner of Da Boyz. While Brewers is another favorite of mine, it offers some very interesting contrasts to Da Boyz.
The large interior space is more modern in ambience and has a definite sports bar feel to it:
Here is a different view of the interior:
Instead of pizzas, Brewers has a nice selection of flat breads – cheese and toppings on lavash bread. (Rumor has it that Brewers cannot serve pizza because of the divorce settlement – but since I have not read this on the Internet, I do not know it as a fact). In any case, this is the blue bacon flatbread:
This is halfandhalf flatbread – part Mediterranean (spinach, feta, pepperoncini, olive, and garlic) and part Margherita (fresh tomato, basil, and garlic):
Brewers also has sandwiches (each of which comes with a choice of french fries, onion rings, seasoned chips, sweet potato fries, or tater tots). Some of the sandwiches are pretty mediocre. Here is a gyro with onion rings:
The sandwich meat and pita bread were pretty meh, and the onion rings were equally mediocre. Similarly, I should have known better than try a pulled pork sandwich:
However, those tater tots are really excellent. Extremely crunchy outside, moist and flavorful within.
The Santa Fe turkey sandwich was tasty although the roasted green chile did not have real New Mexico flavor. The sweet potato fries, even with this latticework design, lacked much crunch though they were flavorful:
The burgers are generally the best sandwich choices. Here is a basic burger, and you can see the well seasoned, handmade patty as well as the tomato, lettuce, onion, and pickle complements:
And to repeat myself, the tater tots are really good.
Another favorite is the honey mustard chicken burger. Along with the standard toppings of pickle, onion, tomato, and lettuce, you get a large chicken breast filet, a couple of slices of smoky bacon, melted Swiss cheese, and a flavorful honey mustard sauce:
The french fries are just okay.
Some other things here that Tina and I enjoy – recently, she tried the Cobb salad and it was a very good rendition of the standard favorite:
And I could not believe how excellent the fish tacos were:
Yuma is one of those rare places where one can get good Mexican food even at restaurants that are not primarily Mexican restaurants – probably because most of the cooks in Yuma restaurants are Mexicans or Mexican-Americans. Anyway, those fish tacos, while extremely simple, were outstanding. There was just enough white sauce, the cabbage added some vegetable crunch, the salsa was remarkably smoky and spicy, and the fish fillets (yes, each taco contained an entire pollock fillet) were perfectly fried, crunchy on the outside and moist and flavorful inside:
As good as some of the food options are at Brewers, this place has a major advantage over any other place in Yuma: 10-12 taps devoted to various craft brews, mostly from Arizona, California, and Colorado. This is the listing of beers available on May 28 (notice the cross outs and handwritten additions):
Look at the top of the tap list, not the Bud and Millers listed toward the bottom. Here is a very different taplist for June 14:
Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale, Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro, Ballast Point Sculpin Ale, Grand Canyon Shaggy Bock, Four Peaks Peach Ale, Arrogant Bastard, San Tan Brewing Negro Nitro, Four Peaks Sunbru Kolsch, Coronado Mermaid Red, Maui Brewing Coconut Porter, TapIt IPA, Stone IPA, and Sam Adams Summer Ale are just some of the specialty brews available on one or both of those two days. Finally, in Yuma, you can sit down with friends and have beers that look like this:
Or like this:
Wow!! Yuma has arrived in the 21st century. And those beers go really well with deep-fried zucchini:
Da Boyz and Brewers both make my life in Yuma better. If you visit them, they will probably improve your life (though perhaps not your waistline) as well.
Da Boyz Italian Cuisine 284 S Main, Yuma AZ 85364, (928) 783-8383
Brewers Restaurant and Sports Bar, 2331 S Ave B, Yuma AZ, 85364, (928) 783-0073.
It's a sad day when okazuya's and mom-and-pop stores can't make a better Spam Musubi than 7-11…really?
