American/New American Restaurants – Page 48

Baby Back Jack’s Old Fashioned Broiler

February 20, 2007 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Sandwiches, What Howie Eats - Where the Foodie from Foodieview Eats

*** Baby Back Jack's has closed

A few months back Howie, who does A Foodie's-Eye View of San Diego's Best Restaurants mentioned "Jack's Broiler" to me in an email, about a month after, Candice, who posts in Oh-So Yummy mentioned Jack's Broiler as well. So during a recent weekend, we drove on up to Hillcrest and dropped by Baby Back Jack's Old Fashioned Broiler(whew, that's a mouthful) for lunch.

If I remember correctly, this used to be a Yogurt shop. The interior of Jack's goes for a mild "retro-old fashioned" look.

And tunes like Earth Angel and Venus in Bluejeans flow throughout the restaurant.

The menu is small, but covers very familiar territory, with everything from Hot Dogs and Burgers, to Baby Back Ribs.

On this visit, the Missus went for the 1/2 of Jack's "Famous Wild Chicken"($7.95). Check out the "wild chicken"……

Basically, a roasted half chicken that is slathered with BBQ sauce and heated on the grill. The chicken comes with Coleslaw and one "side", in this case the Missus chose fries.

The Missus told me the coleslaw wasn't really that great, a bit on the sweet side for Her…but She did scarf it up. I loved the fries, which were the skin-on natural style fries, with a chili-garlic-paprika seasoning. The Missus thought the fries were a bit on the salty side…but I finished them all up. Never got a chance to use the Ranch-style dipping sauce that was provided.

The chicken was quite large, and the Missus couldn't finish it.

On the good side, the chicken was large, and the meat moist through and through. On the bad side, the interior of the chicken was still slightly cold. And though the dark meat had some flavor, the white meat was bland. The BBQ sauce didn't do it for me either, it had a bit of a neutral BBQ flavor, but had a weird aftertaste, and left a strange coating on my tongue. Overall, this was quite a bit of food.

I had the "World Famous Beef Dip"($7.95):

Just by looking at it, you know right away…this ain't no "Philippe's". First off the "roll" was on very dry side, and the meat looked kinda, well, "grey", and was dry and tough. I enjoyed the "jus", it was beefy, and not overly salty…I used up all the jus and the Horseradish sauce. I think this is a bit over-priced for $7.95.

On a side note…guess how much the soda pictured on the side is? It's $2, for one of those plastic 12oz cups. Luckily, refills are free, but if you're doing take-out, forget about the drinks. The two sodas I ordered put us over the $20 mark for lunch.

But still….I really enjoyed those fries…..

So I returned for lunch when I was in the area recently. And since you just can't order fries…I ordered my fries($1.95) with a side order of a Cheeseburger($5.50).

Thought the fries were not as heavily seasoned as on my last visit, they were still pretty good.

After ordering, I struck up a short conversation with the "cook", who asked me how I'd like my burger, and though I'd usually ask for it "medium", I just told him to make the way he thought was best.

The burger was delivered dressed with lettuce, tomato, and slices of red onions, cooked just a tad on the "well" side, but the meat was moist, juicy, and had a nice mildly beefy flavor. At first I thought there was too much bun for the burger, but the bread had a nice pillowy texture. I wish the cheese was melted a bit better. I'd forgotten to tell him to skip the "sauce", which was a Thousand Island style dressing, but at least it wasn't slathered on, and the sauce was very mild so it didn't interfere with the flavor of the burger. Still, I usually like my burger without dressing. Not a bad burger, it's not going to set the world on fire, but it's pretty good, not as good as some, but better than many. I'd have it again.

As I usually do for "What Howie Eats" posts, I emailed Howie for His input. Here's what he said; "My fries were my favorite thing about the meal. I had the ribs, and they were decent, esp for the price." So there you go….

Baby Back Jack's Old Fashioned Broiler
1290 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Scootz Eatz-New-and good-BBQ/Broasted Chicken/Pizza-in Santee

February 6, 2007 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Unfortunately, Scootz has closed. It will be missed. The only place to get boasted chicken in Santee is Jimmy's.

Hi. mmm-yoso is not on vacation, its just Cathy writing about what she and The Mister ate the other day. Kirk just doesn't feel like writing…I'm sure he has eaten, though…

The Old Boll Weevil is gone from Santee, and I will miss it. They *would* cook the burgers medium rare and the prices were cheaper than at, what is apparently the only Boll Weevil left in the county… I immediately called The Mister when I saw the sign for the new place go up, and told him to check out the website. Scootz Eatz. Funny spelling. Sign says BBQ, Chicken, Salads, Pizza. It opened in December, we found a coupon on get one free dot com, so we went.

They are re-doing the facade of the whole mall, so there is not much lighting, just the plastic banner. Its right across the street from the Santee Post Office, if you don't know the area.

Ah, scooters. Suspended from the walls…the decor is kind of old fashioned Service Station, with metal moldings and stainless lamps and the concrete floor is a kind of swirly stained brown, like maybe oil was spilled on it. Clean. A lot cleaner than the old Boll Weevil.

So we walk in and there is a counter, where you order, pay, get a number and then your beverages, condiments and utensils. The food is brought to the table. While you are ordering, someone from the kitchen brings you a piece of freshly made bread, coated in a butter with chunks of garlic topping. Oh yes, good, not too yeasty, a nice crust. Turns out you get some with your meal. With refills, if you ask. (The people working there were way attentive, asking how the food was, being very helpful).

The coupon was for a free 1/4 chicken, your choice of white or dark meat (reg $7.25) with purchase of another meal…a BROASTED chicken. Oh, the best place we have had broasted chicken is at Jimmy's the next block over. You have to use a special broaster contraption to call it broasted chicken….oh yes. Crispy thin browned crust, juicy meat. (There is an addendum at the bottom of this post explaining what broasted means.)

It came with the aforementioned bread and a choice of one of two salads. This one is the "San Diego", which has a variety of lettuces, feta, grape tomatoes, cucumber, olives, onion slices, and a slice of green and red pepper in a "zesty"balsamic dressing. There is a *lot* of salad in that bowl. The flavors worked very well together.

For our other meal, we chose the 1/4 rack of ribs ($8.75) with the Caesar salad. To be honest, I did not expect much.

Wrong. 4 baby back ribs, meaty, a good smoky meat flavor, light BBQ sauce coating that was not overpowering. Excellent. We asked the Owner and he said he smokes it in the oven. He also asked us if it was too smoky or not, a nice touch. The Caesar salad was all romaine, fresco cheese and topped with tortilla strips and had a very nice creamy lime Caesar dressing. Again, a lot of salad in that bowl.

We were curious about the honey baked beans ($4.25) as a side dish and ordered it.

It was in a large bowl, same size as the salads came in, and so there was a lot, but the price was steep. We did fill out the comment card and that was our only complaint-the price was too high. The flavor was excellent, the beans not mushy, I could taste the honey.

Also on the menu, for only 95¢ were in store made potato chips. Oh, yes. I am from Detroit, where the largest amount of potato chips are consumed per capita. I would eat a bag of chips with chocolate milk for lunch on days when I did not bring a lunch to school. Still, to this day, both my brother and I give out small vendor size bags of chips to the Trick or Treaters on Halloween because we remember how good it was to not get all candy.

These chips- not hot, but oh yes, freshly made that day, crispy and not thin..nicely burned. Salted, but not too much. Excellent. So much that we took the extra home.

This was a nice surprise and right on Mission Gorge Road. They also smoke a tri-tip, which I will get next time…oh and they have pizza, burgers, wraps, gourmet sandwiches …that also next time, and the next time. There is a menu on the website and they are available for catering. It was surprisingly excellent!

Scootz Eatz 9535 Mission Gorge Road Santee 92071 (619) 562-4200 website

After I wrote/published this post I got a few questions about what "broasted" means. It is a combination of pressure and deep frying in a machine made by the Broaster Company of Beloit, Wisconsin. Both the equipment and ingredients are available only to the Food Service and Institutional Industry Customers, not the general public. The result of broasting is a rapidly cooked crispy skinned chicken with a moist interior and it is less greasy than traditional fried chicken.

(Rail) Road Trip – Two Landmarks; Philippe the Original & Cielito Lindo- Los Angeles

January 10, 2007 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Mexican Restaurants, Road Trip, Sandwiches

On the final day of my LA Railroad trip, we headed off to find some sustenance for the long and grueling train ride back to San Diego…..a two hour trip on an empty stomach can be pure hell! On this day, Captain Jack and I had decided to walk on over to the one and only Philippe The Original….say that quickly and dramatically "Philippe THE Orrr-iginal", and suddenly pictures of tumblers, clowns, and other circus performers dance in your head…..

Which sometimes ain’t too far from the truth…..it gets pretty crowded at Philippe’s, even at 830 am on a Sunday morning, the line is a good 6 deep. You may need a Ringmaster to maneuver around the 3 ring circus breakfast rush.

Some of Philippe’s fame is based on the claim that Philippe Mathieu(the original Philippe) created the French Dip sandwich by accident in 1918. You can read it all here. In the original "you got peanut butter on my chocolate" moment Philippe apparently came up with a bad case of fumble-itis when making a sandwich, dropping the roll into a roasting pan full of juice (let’s all say it together, ahhhh-jus!), and the rest so they say is history. But as with many of these type of claims, it is not without some controversy…..right up the street resides Cole’s Pacific Electric Buffet, who claim to have invented the French Dip sandwich in 1908!

Philippe04_1 Most of the customers on this morning were having breakfast. But, I wasn’t standing in line on the sawdust lined floors at Philippe’s for breakfast. Though I must say, watching a petite Asian girl wolf down a huge ham steak, easy over eggs, biscuits, cole slaw, and potato salad, is quite a sight to behold.

Not knowing the next time I’d be in the area, I went for my favorite sandwich at Philippe’s…the Double Dipped Lamb Sandwich. ($5.95) Ahhh Lamb, it’s not just for breakfast anymore……. A leg of lamb was removed from one of the heating drawers, the meat cut off, the whole sandwich dipped, twice in jus. Oh, and of course a cup o’ Joe…believe it or not, coffee at Philippe’s is still 10 cents a cup.

And though the lamb was a bit tougher and not as rich as the version I had on my previous visit , the jus was oh so good. In fact I remember telling Captain Jack, that if Philippe’s sold rolls in jus, I’d be tempted to order that. I know I could have gotten the Classic French Dip, but I’d found it to be on the salty side……

Still Philippe’s is quite the landmark…in business since 1908, that says something about a place.

Philippe the Original
1001 N Alameda St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Open Daily 6am – 10pm

And of course breakfast is just not complete without something from that special food group, taquitos. We made it a point to stop by Cielito Lindo on DietChiliCheeseFries recommendation. According to DCCF, the taquitos at Cielito Lindo was a must eat item.

Much like Philippe’s, Cielito Lindo has a long and interesting history, and has been around and selling taquitos since 1934! That’s alot of taquitos…….

So of course we had to stop by and order some Burritos! Hah, just kidding, I ordered 3 taquitos($3.60). The taquitos arrived, and were very tasty, the "shell" had a nice corn flavor, though I thought the really tightly packed meat to be somewhat tough and flavorless. The avocado sauce, was like a runny guacamole, or maybe a thicker salsa verde? Kind of on the bland side.

Still these taquitos had that "something special", and were about a perfect a taquito as one could come across.

As we ate, we watched taquitos being cooked, and noticed that the taquitos weren’t deep fried in the conventional sense, but fried up in a pan that looked sort of like a wok, without a ton of oil.

As we watched the taquitos cook, I nudged Captain Jack….I had found the ingredient that made these taquitos so good….it was the special, thick, white liquid being poured into the pans from the "coffee pots" lining the stove area! Yes, that magical elixir…Lard! No wonder they tasted so good!

Cielito Lindo
23 Olvera St # E
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Open Sun – Thurs 9am – 11pm
Fri – Sat 9am – Midnight

A Lamb Dip Sandwich, with a taquito chaser…….now that’s a breakfast!

The heck with your New Year’s Resolution!-Anthony’s Sea Grill

January 9, 2007 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Chains, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

Unfortunately Anthony's Sea Grill has closed.

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is blogging and Kirk is apparently traipsing about, probably researching someplace new and different.

Hi. There should be a "seafood" or "fish" category for me to select from, but there isn't…and Anthony's is technically a San Diego chain, so I categorized it that way…but, well, if you've lived here for any length of time, you know Anthony's. The Star of The Sea Room downtown..fancy schmancy…they used to require all men wear a jacket or suit coat to eat there…can you imagine? Its good seafood. The Ghio family has had restaurants in San Diego since 1946..Anthony's Fish Grotto. The three Grotto's are less expensive and still have great seafood. Then a few years ago, Anthony's Fishette's opened…and one remains. Now, to meet the needs of today's guests, Anthony's Grill has opened. Its in the mall at the SE corner of 805 and Clairmont Mesa Boulevard, next to Niban.

So, there are healthy, grilled items on the menu and quite a variety. You order, pay and they bring the food to your table.

There is a take out counter near the door, with "Grab and Go" wraps and salads and a few Anthony's products (the basting butters, spreads, dips, seafood salad, and smoked fish).

The 'old' Fishette that used to be in this location had an appetizer of smoked fish which The Mister and I used to always get. This time, we had to buy a vacuum sealed, 4.5 ounce hunk of smoked albacore for $3.79. Of course, we have a bowl of New England style clam chowder also ($2.95). There is a "sauce bar" with a variety of sides…tartar, cocktail, pesto salad dressing, louie dressing, catsup, lemons…everything you could possibly need to add to your meal.

The clam chowder is made with real cream…a skin forms on top . The flavor of the broth is nice and with clam juice and there are many larger pieces of chopped clam, some celery and small diced potato. Its excellent clam chowder, as always, served with oyster crackers.

The smoked fish was excellent. There is an expiration date n the back of the package. Its smoked fresh here in San Diego. The Mister got the Fish and shrimp plate with fries ($8.95) and a side of cole slaw ($1.75). I love the cole slaw here. Not too much dressing and a tiny bit tangy with the cabbage chopped finely. There are five large shrimp, lightly breaded and fried perfectly…juicy and sweet. The piece of cod is light, flaky, fresh and classic. The fries are not bad. Crispy and light. Not greasy.

I got the fried calamari salad ($7.50)

Mostly iceberg with some romaine lettuces, tomatoes, avocado slices, cucumber slices, onion, homemade croutons and a slice of garlic ciabatta bread (which is used for the sandwiches here) . Oh yes, and the fried calamari. Light, slight seasoning and perfect. There is quite a bit of food here.

Oh, the grilled stuff…we haven't tried it. We like the "original" Anthony's flavors.

Anthony's Sea Grill 781 Clairmont Mesa Blvd. San Diego 92111 (858)244-0228

Click here for website

Rose Parade Preview…and food at Tops

December 31, 2006 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!, yoso-silly

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is blogging while Kirk rests. This one is interesting.

Hi. Its the end of the year and there are still some traditional things The Mister and I do. One of those things is going up to Pasadena, having breakfast and either helping or watching Tournament of Roses parade floats being decorated. Since I have this wrist injury and repetitive stress is out of the question, this is a year to watch.

So, we went to breakfast first at the Historic Green Street Hotel. The Hotel is now a Condominium Complex for the most part, but the building was built in 1898 and has been declared a Historical Site. …The food, its a brunch and not much selection.

Fruit, muffins, pastries, scrambled eggs, sausage and ham…as well as juice and coffee. We were not there for the food.

We ate quickly and waited to get onto the tour bus that took us about 1 mile south….this was the view, waiting to get to the top/overview area of one of the four float building company warehouses.

This is the Farmers Insurance entry for this year's parade. The little owl on Mother Nature's shoulder moves his head. They took the float out of the warehouse to make certain the mechanics were working and to do last minute touch ups before judging was to take place at about 1 p.m. today. Every square inch of the float that is visible has to be covered in something that is, or was alive.

Once you are inside you get a view of the nine floats that have been being assembled in this 'barn' for, really, the last year.

The City of Glendale float is the one with the bear, the Optimists have the one with the cat and dog being friends,

The City of Long Beach

made the one with the lighthouse and sailboats, the City of Pasadena did the birdhouse. McDonald's sponsored the one with the honeybees …

The Lutheran Hour has the one with the church, Lions Club International did the one with the cane for the blind.

Anyhow, these floats are essentially done, and beautiful. People talk about what they are made of…the living parts. But this isn't a good vantage point…HOWEVER…I have friends in High Places….oh, and I'm kinda sorta one of them….

Here is a photo from a few days before the parade last year, with a float still in the assembly stage. See the orange slices used so they look like goldfish scales?

(click on it and it will enlarge)

So, anyhow, here's some closeups..you can tell some of the materials without my help.

OK, so that was the majority of my day…but The Mister and I were tired and hungry and in Pasadena..and of course I *must* always have my camera with me.

Tops, 50 years in business, 'Voted Best Fast Food in Pasadena, Corner of Walnut and Allen'. Gotta try it.

Hmmm, similar to The Hat but with a larger menu….

So, we got what we know is good: the 1/2 pound burger ($3.89), pastrami dip($6.39) and small chili cheese fries($3.59)…

Simple, basic and pretty darn good…the burger is served with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and Thousand Island sauce; the pastrami was peppery, had a nice amount of fat and in a nice french roll…

OK, the burger looks, eh, smallish for 1/2 pound…here is what it looked like in my hand after I had eaten a LOT and was almost full….

Tops 1792 East Walnut Street Pasadena (626)584-0244 M-Th 7 am-11 pm; Fri/Sa am-midnight, Sun 9 am-11pm

I'll talk to you all next year, and thank you for making this one my most interesting in my lifetime! Watch football on January 1st… There's this game that is played in Pasadena….

It’s Burger Week – Longhorn Cafe-Howdy Pilgrim!

December 20, 2006 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Pubs and Pub Grub, Sandwiches, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Kirk is just taking the day off (from blogging, anyhow) and Cathy is blogging. Stay and look.

Hello, again, and welcome back. I'm just going to talk about a great sort of neighborhood place that has been there forever and has an All-American type of ambiance…by that, I mean burgers and beer….

In the Vons/Rite Aid Shopping Center where Mission Gorge turns into Friars Road, next to Kaiser Hospital at Zion…at night, well, its the faded sign..

You walk in, the bar is along the wall to your left, booths on the right and televisions blaring. Lots of cowboy memorabilia on the walls. Walk straight back to the room on the left- The John Wayne Room…

Trust me, this is nowhere near all the memorabilia collected here.

You can read about John Wayne on the menu also.

So, you sit down and the table is set, with menus, plastic wear, condiments…

The menu is fairly simple; burgers, steaks salads, appetizers. Bar food.

(You can read, at the bottom of the John Wayne story, the breakfast menu)

We ordered basics. The 1/2 pound Longhorn burger ($6.25), cooked medium rare, with a side of onion rings ($4) and the 6 ounce top sirloin steak dinner ($8.50), served with salad or coleslaw or soup, freedom fries and garlic toast. The Mister also ordered a Red Trolley Beer, which was $2.25- the Happy Hour price-cheaper than the draught beer.

The salad arrives in a paper plate atop a plastic plate with a real fork (there are plastic forks on the table). Standard, iceberg lettuce, fresh tomatoes, a pretty good blue cheese dressing. Nothing extraordinary, not bad.

The Top Sirloin steak, cooked medium rare, also. The steak was very flavorful and tender. The garlic toast was nice. The fries were standard, cooked well.

The side of Onion rings is quite large. They were crispy and made with whole onions, not the minced ones.

My 1/2 pound burger, done medium rare, served with ONION and tomato and lettuce. You saw that condiment tray up there…I added pickles and mayonnaise. Oh, the bun is toasted.

Excellent food, great atmosphere, close to Qualcomm and friendly people..everywhere…

Longhorn Cafe 6519 Mission Gorge Road San Diego 92120 ( in the Vons and Rite Aid Shopping Center)

(619)283-0831

Hancock Street Cafe-hmmm

December 2, 2006 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is NOT on vacation. Kirk is taking a day off and Cathy is blogging.

Hi. This is gonna be a bizarre post. The Mister and I have been here only this one time,and I usually don’t make a judgment on the first visit… I don’t like to say much bad about any place. The food isn’t "bad", per se…it just isn’t that good…

OK, say you are in the area of the Sports Arena, perhaps on a weekend, wanting to go to Kobey’s Swap Meet, and you got off the I-8 at the Rosecrans exit and were trying to get there from the ‘back way’, making a right at Les Girls (for those of you who don’t know the area, use your imagination)…that’s Hancock Street…its one way…and you see this on your right:

As you pass, you see the front of the building, the Elvis and Marilyn statues..and the "live Jazz and Blues" signage. Well, you know me. I had to stop.

OK. its *tiny* inside. TWO chairs and one table, and those three tables with no chairs out front…

The decor is kind of interesting…

Here is the menu: simple, this two sided paper. We ordered, said we would eat there and we were not asked to pay up front. Mario, the owner and sometimes cook, is a very honest and trusting man.

There were cars pulling up in front, people walking in, ordering something simple-like two pints of chicken soup, one cold and one hot (the soup is fresh-made on the premises), chili (also fresh made) or a candy bar and leaving. One guy ordered a Stromboli and I thought that sounded good. I saw the large Gyros sign out on the side of the building, so ordered one of those..and a coffee. Mario asked if I wanted cream and sugar in it…hmmm…

The Stromboli came out first. It looked a little too perfect; like it was was not made there, but was heated nicely and tasted very good. It was stuffed with ham, sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella, mushrooms and onions.

The gyros took longer to make, and we were told it would be about 5 minutes. The gyros meat was the kind you buy already frozen and the pita was a standard kind you can also buy…nothing fresh here but the tomatoes, lettuce and a lot of onions..well, no, I don’t think the sauce was made there.

Hmmm…

It wasn’t bad, but the lunches were kind of an ode to Smart N Final, or Sysco.

Many people have told me the breakfast croissants are great and made to order. We have to go back from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., when it opens, to see if this is true.

The owner, Mario, plays seven instruments and goes out front and plays music when there is nothing to do inside. Every evening at 9 pm, he plays music out front also..whether anyone is there or not. He looks like a cross between Benny Hill and Charlie Chaplin… and he is playing that look up, by dressing that way ..with the small mustache and funny hat. He has also gotten a copyright for the name "Benny Chaplain"…and he is going to walk from San Diego to Washington, D.C., next year…doing 20 miles a day, leaving on April 1st and arriving on September 11, recording the walk…all while walking like Charlie Chaplain and playing his music along the way…(You know I could not make this up) to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Mario’s wife died of cervical cancer 7 years ago.

He is trying to get sponsors in every state and is also contacting all the Governors of each state he will walk through… His son is going to run the restaurant while Mario walks. He is selling t-shirts to raise money.

You will notice on the menu that he will be opening a location near Petco park downtown in 2007. I wonder if the name will be "Hancock Street"…I will try this place again, for the breakfast sandwiches, to be fair.

Hancock Street Cafe 3354 Hancock Street, San Diego 92110 (619) 296-2060

Episode16/week3-Charley’s Famous Hamburgers, Shakes, Kabobs…and bacon!

October 16, 2006 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Diner, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in the interim.

Its been there since 1973. No advertising. Word of mouth. You probably have seen it… Click onto the picture…you are on Broadway in Lemon Grove, heading east, toward Sweetwater Springs Road. They have *finally* finished all that construction…there…sort of to the left, the red sign…Charley's Famous Hamburgers.

It isn't a sit down restaurant, although there are picnic tables in the back and out front. Most people seem to drive though. They all know to order, drive up and shut off the engine. You have to wait for the food to be cooked.

This is it- you drive through on one side of this small building, or walk up to the front and order. All the cooking goes on inside there.

The menu, as seen via the Drive Through.

You will notice bacon on here, a lot.

I will admit to not bothering to having bacon on most items at restaurants, because I just can't taste it…its usually thin and fairly flavorless. Not here….The bacon is always thick, always not greasy and wonderfully flavored. This, combined with the fact that not much food is frozen, makes Charley's one place I will continue to patronize.

Lets take breakfast, for example. This is the breakfast croissant ($ 3.39) egg, bacon, ham and cheese on a fresh, fluffy croissant. {The extra charge to make a breakfast a combo is worth it if you like OJ-you get a large prepacked container along with a hash brown patty}

There is the famous Kabob-seasoned ground beef patty grilled and in a pita with lettuce, radishes, green pepper, onions and mayo.…and bacon, of course…

This one is the single kabob with bacon ($4.49)

This one is the double kabob with bacon ($5.49). I really like the idea of radishes and green pepper on a hot sandwich. It's a wonderful flavor combination.

Then of course there is the famous hamburger.

This is a the double cheeseburger ($3.29) The hamburger meat is more coarse ground than I have had, more flavorful and definitely not frozen.

There are of course, sides to order.

This is the small Chili Cheese Fries ($2.49) and the onion rings ($1.99)

The chili here is unique and has a nice spice to it. They use those spicy chili beans and not much ground beef. (The cheese melted into the chili before I got a good photograph)..and the onion rings are made of whole real onions, in a cornmeal batter…nice crunch! The plain fries, I am not overly thrilled about, but they have good potato flavor.

OOOH- Look behind the onion rings. That is the plain old, simple BLT ($3.69)…SIX (6) yes, six slices of bacon on that seeded burger bun, with lettuce, tomatoes and mayo…the *absolute* best BLT …EVER.

The part of the menu you may have missed and no photograph could do it justice are the milkshakes…Oh, you *have* to try them. Fresh made to order…my favorite is the banana, made with a real banana, of course… that peanut butter shake…salty and sweet…..absolutely wonderful shakes….the root beer float…just get that as a treat one evening. Its wonderful. The one I haven't tried yet is the apple turnover shake. But, since there are apple turnovers on the menu…well, I can imagine how the shake is made and pretty much what it tastes like…that can be for next time.

So, the next time you are driving, please don't just pass by. Stop. It *will* be the best food you have had in a long time.

Charley's Famous Burgers, Kabobs and Shakes,

8213 Broadway, Lemon Grove 91945 (619)460-2690

Open 7:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., until 10 p.m. on Friday

Episode 15/Week 3-Crispy Fried Chicken

October 15, 2006 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk is being played by Cathy in the interim.

So, say you are driving on El Cajon Boulevard, and you see, like, 40 places Kirk has mentioned and there is so much Pho and Bahn Mi and you are almost overwhelmed…then at the SE Corner of El Cajon Blvd and 49th..you see:

Crispy Fried Chicken

oh…you have to stop….

(as long as its still daylight)

menu on the front window…

menu inside….along with television..note "truth in advertising" in the 2nd column up there on the wall- taped up are boxes for the fried mozzarella, jalapeños and zucchini.

and the convenient menu to use for phone ins…

You will note on this menu, the coleslaw, potato salad, corn bread, corn and steamed rice are the non-fried items, along with beverages of course, and possibly the biscuits….

Now, have you been paying attention the last three weeks? The name of the place is "Crispy Fried Chicken"…Get the chicken!

The three piece mixed chicken meal:

with cole slaw and hush puppies as sides ($4.79). Excellent cole slaw, light fluffy hush puppies and really *really* good fried chicken. Light, crispy batter, lightly seasoned. Large pieces, compared to most chicken places.

The seven piece fried oysters with cornbread and onion rings. ($5.49). The oysters were large in the sense that there were more than one in some of the fried pieces. They were very juicy and in a cornbread-based batter. The cornbread was with a sweet flavor, not too fancy but fresh. The onions rings were made with diced onions…all the same size and passable: not great.

So, if you get that fried food craving again and are on El Cajon Boulevard, stop in. The fried catfish is really good, better than the snapper. If anything, get the popcorn chicken…that will satisfy your craving for a while.

Crispy Fried Chicken 4919 El Cajon Boulevard San Diego 92115 (619) 582-3938

Mon-Sat 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Episode 13A/Week Two-Happy Chef, Happy, Happy!

October 14, 2006 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Greek Food, Mexican Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is on vacation. The part usually played by Kirk will be played by Cathy in in the interim.

*** Update. The name has changed to Kayson’s. The people who work there all seem to be the same (even the husband and wife who I thought were owners) including Aurelio, the Chef. The walls don’t have photos of famous Channel 8 ex-personalities. The tables and chairs all match now. There is a wide screen TV and new flooring. The menu has the same foods, but the prices all went up by about $2 per item.

Update of the Update: Happy Chef and Kaysons are now closed.

Ahh, its a weekend and, well…there is this place The Mister and I have been going to since about 1984 and its still there, and I think the tables and chairs are still the same and, well, nobody has ever had a mention of it. YET, Kirk has mentioned Sammy Sushi as being his favorite place and here, Happy Chef is technically in the same building, sharing the same parking lot.

Its only open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday thru Saturday and is busy most of that time. The sign says "Home Style Cooking" and if your home is American-Greek-Mexican, then yes, it is.

The menu has American, Greek and Mexican breakfasts and for lunch, Greek Food, Mexican Food, Charbroiled burgers, salads, sandwiches, two "Oriental Plates", seafood and combo plates. Note that there is gyros listed under "Mexican Food" and under "Old Favorites" in the breakfast section, the shrimp and mixed cheese omelet….I suppose I grew up deprived…

Here is a better photo of part of the lunch menu (the descriptions are difficult to read on the paper menu because its kind of grey ink on yellow paper) :

The Mister got himself the souvlaki and eggs breakfast with pita ($6.35) and I got my all time favorite- chilaquiles with shredded beef ($4.99). The souvlaki was excellent- tender and served on a kabob with a side of tzatziki. (Those are poached eggs in the cup on the plate). I do *love* the chilaquiles here, some places only make them vegetarian style but you have the option of getting them with shredded chicken or beef and the shredded beef is excellent. Chilaquiles are tortilla strips cooked in a sauce, kind of an enchilada sauce, and then mixed in are meat or eggs or vegetables.

For lunch one day, the Mister wanted the Fish and Chips, which came with 1/2 of the plate covered in salad, the other half with in store cut potatoes and three large pieces of fish, covered in a cornmeal batter. All very tasty. The tartar sauce is made here and is very chunky with jarred relish, kind of tart in taste. I opted for the gyros with onion rings, which were whole slices of onions covered in the same cornmeal batter. The gyros was way overfilled in the pita, nice and thick sliced and had chopped onions and chopped tomatoes in it. The tzatziki is a good one, made without dill.

Now the place is called Happy Chef and the clock on the wall has been there forever. …you know I don’t have photos of people in any of my posts. But when I saw how Aurelio was dressed on this day, I just *had* to ask permission. He did not want to have his photo taken and I told him it was for my mom to see. She will see it…(click onto the photo for it to enlarge and look at the clock). Doesn’t he look happy, just like the guy on the clock?

Anthony’s Happy Chef 7905 Engineer Road San Diego 92111 (across from Pacific Honda) (858)569-1582

Monday-Saturday 6 a.m.-3 p.m.