American/New American Restaurants – Page 49

Portland: Breakfast at Mother’s Bistro & Bar

June 20, 2006 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Portland, Oregon, Travel

It started drizzling off and on during my first morning in Portland. This put my plans for a trip to Washington Park on the back-burner. So I decided to walk a few blocks and have breakfast at Mother's Bistro & Bar.

Mother's specializes in "Comfort Food", just like Mom used to make….well not my Mom, no Miso Soup, Sukiyaki, or Nishime here, but someones Mom. The menu features such comfort items as Matzo Ball Soup, Chopped Liver, House-Cured Lox, Chicken & Dumplings, Pot Roast, and Meatloaf & Gravy. Mother's also seems to have cornered the market on "shabby chic" furniture. I arrived at about 10 after 7 on a Friday morning, and several tables were already going strong.

I found that there are two items that Oregonians are really passionate about; beer and coffee. I ordered a cup of coffee, and went through the same drill several times; brewed or French Press, Organic, Dark roast……….and I thought those Vietnamese Restaurant menus were confusing!

To be perfectly honest, I loved the coffee(Holler Mountain Organic Blend – French Press – $2.95), provided by Stumptown Coffee Roasters. The very friendly and helpful Server; I believe Her name was Michelle, gave me directions to Stumptown.

As for the food; I decided to order "Mike's Special Scramble"($8.95):

A scramble of Prosciutto Ham, roasted garlic, fresh tomatoes, basil, and provolone cheese. Nothing wrong with the scramble, though I thought that perhaps a bit more tomato would help cut the richness of the scramble a bit, I'm really not used to such a "heavy" breakfast. The honey whole wheat toast was fine, but the breakfast potatoes were lousy. Some of the potatoes were cold, some molten hot, some pieces over slated, some not salted at all. The edges of several pieces of potato were dry and hard as rock.

The prices at Mother's are fairly reasonable, with breakfast running from Two Eggs any style at $5.95 to $10.95 for Wild Salmon Hash. Mother's also flies in H&H Bagels from New York. Most Lunch entrees run from $8.95 to $10.95, so prices for lunch seem to be fairly reasonable as well.

Mother's Bistro & Bar
409 Sw 2nd Ave

Is now at – 121 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97204
Portland, OR 97204

Breakfast: Tues-Fri 7am-230pm
Sat-Sun 9am-230pm
Lunch: Tues-Sun 1130am-230pm
Dinner: Tues-Thurs 530pm-9pm
Fri-Sat 5pm-10pm

After eating this, I was ready to go right back to my room. But since I was armed with my umbrella, I decided to take a walk up to Chinatown(5 Portland-sized blocks North). Here's a photo of the Chinatown Gateway:

In contrast to Chinatowns in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, Boston, and Honolulu, Portland Chinatown was very quite and sedate at this time of the morning. I later read that for a 30 year period between 1880 and 1910, Portland had the second largest Chinese community in the West.

This building for this restaurant; the House of Louie was built in 1922.

As with several "Chinatowns" in the US, like the Chinatown in Washington DC, there's not really much that is truly Chinese about "Chinatown". There was one destination, that I really did want to visit in the area…..

The Classical Chinese Garden.

This garden was completed in September of 2000, by workmen from Portland's Sister city of Suzhou.

According to what I read, from between 1000AD, and through the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644AD), Suzhou was the city where Imperial Court Officials retired to. In retirement, these officials built housing compounds that featured beautiful and opulent gardens.

These gardens take up a whole city block.

A nice relaxing break.

Portland Classical Chinese Garden
239 Northwest Everett St
Portland, OR 97209
November 1 – March 31: 10:00am – 5:00pm
April 1 – October 31: 9:00am – 6:00pm

Admission: $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5.50 for students

Brians’ American Eatery

March 2, 2006 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Diner

*** Brian's has closed

The Missus isn't really a "breakfast person" in the conventional sense. That is, She sometimes craves breakfast for dinner. And on a recent evening She had a craving for Wheat Germ Pancakes from Brians'. And Brians' serves breakfast all day.

Yes, it's called Brians', not Brian's, after the two Owners, who are both named Brian. I did a quick "handbag check", the Missus had rotated out the "Dior" and replaced it with a Fendi, so hopefully the Dior curse hadn't followed us. We drove up to Brians' which is located on busy Washington Street in Hillcrest, and is one of those popular and sometimes very crowded neighborhood diners.

We have always had very friendly service at Brians', and today was no exception. Since it was still fairly early for dinner, and the sun was out, we decided to sit on the patio.

The Missus ordered Her Wheat Germ Pancakes, but they were out, so She had the Whole Wheat Pancakes instead($5.99).

The full stack of whole wheat pancakes consist of 3 plate sized ground wheat pancakes. The pancakes were slightly nutty, and not overly sweet. The texture was slightly dense, but not as "chewy" as regular pancakes tend to be. With whipped butter, and maple syrup, the Missus stated that these were delici-yoso!!!

I've had a few dishes at Brians', and have found that the portions are always generous, but it's been hit and miss. Though today I decided to pull out all the stops, and order something interesting from the menu.

Yep, I got a Frankie Burger($9.89)! A 1/2lb burger topped with bacon and jack and cheddar cheese. But most of all it's got peanut butter on it! The menu says; "Don't be afraid!"

I'd say that you'll either immediately like or hate this burger, there's no middle ground. Though I'm not a peanut butter lover, I enjoyed the burger. The not overly sweet peanut bitter added a nice creamy richness to the burger, which was pretty darn good on it's own; seared on the outside, moist and tender in the interior. The peanut butter balanced out the saltiness of the bacon and cheddar cheese. The acid from the tomato helped cut through the richness.

The burger came with two sides and I chose fries:

The "natural style" fries, were "bleh", okay, but they got real soggy very quickly and needed alot of ketchup.

I also got the potato salad.

Red potatoes with a light coat of mayo, the salad had a huge amount of "pickle juice" that would have been off-putting on it's own, but in this case, the vinegar helped cleanse my palate of the peanut butter-cheese-bacon richness. I don't think I'd enjoy these as much with anything else. After eating all this I was stuffed silly!

I have always enjoyed the service at Brians', I also like the no-nonsense stuff. For instance we ordered coffee, and of course had ice water. And instead of having to flag someone down for refills they always leave a pot and a pitcher for our refills.

There are items on the menu at Brians' that I do not enjoy, but overall I consider Brians' to be a pretty good neighborhood diner, and the Missus loves those pancakes.

Brians' American Eatery
1451 Washington St
San Diego, CA 92103

Postscript: In case you're wondering why I ordered a Frankie Burger, it's because of our own little "Frankie Burger" – meet Frankie(burger….):

Broken Yolk Cafe – And the Curse of Dior….

February 28, 2006 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Burgers, Diner

I’m not a a very superstitious person. Although, I wouldn’t do anything that would bring me "ba-chi", Local Kine Japanese slang for "bad luck" or "bad karma". I also will not remove lava rock(really bad luck), cut my toenails at night(Dey goin’ rob your house), and as a child wouldn’t touch a match ("you play wit match, you goin wet da’ bed, so I goin know you play wit matches!"). But other then that, I’m really not superstitious at all! Except, that I think the Missus’s Christian Dior Handbag is cursed. You see, we’ve never had a really good meal whenever she’s brought that darn bag along. And the curse seems to extend to anything related to food; once we went shopping together (pretty rare event in itself, the Missus hates grocery shopping), and the simple act of finding a dozen eggs took me like 15 minutes. I sorted through carton after carton of cracked and broken eggs, finally finding what seemed like the only carton of "intact" eggs in the market………

Broken Yolk Cafe, has always had an odd attraction to the Missus. I think it’s the long lines, and crowds of people crowding the sidewalk during weekends. After all; all these people must know something, right?

Broken Yolk Cafe, is a very popular Breakfast and Lunch destination open from 6am to 3pm daily. Crowds of people Young and Old feast on omelets and burgers, and sip mimosas. The numerous Omelets and Burgers have names like, The Cisco Kid (Four Egg Omelet with Ortega chilies and jack cheese topped with guacamole and sour cream), and Patty Melt Down (Ground beef, American cheese, and grilled onion on rye).

On this sunny, mild, weekday we arrived at about 1pm, after all of the breakfast chaos, and were seated upstairs.

We were served quickly and professionally, and our orders were taken, coffee and water quickly provided, and we were on our way.

The Missus decided on a Rosarito Beach Burger($7.19):

The slightly oblong burger(supposedly 1/2lb), was served on a French Roll, and topped with 2 slices of bacon and guacamole. The Missus, as is Her norm ordered the burger with no mayo, She wants to taste the "beef". This was a bit of a mistake; the burger was very dry. I took a bite and darn if I didn’t bite into a "toenail"…. that’s what I call a piece of bone or other inedible hard piece of "something". The burger came with a pretty large portion of crinkle cut fries:

I really felt like these had been "re-fried", the interior were cold and the fries were very dry.

I ordered the Omelet called the "Border Check"($8.29):

This was a 4 egg omelet with Beef Chorizo, Jack Cheese, Jalapeno Peppers, and topped with guacamole and salsa. I thought the omelet was decent, and enjoyed the heat of the jalapenos, though the Missus thought that the flavoring of the chorizo over-powered everything else. I ordered the "Home Fries", that was more like scalloped/gratin potatoes; pretty bland stuff. I’m taking the Blueberry Muffin home; to use as a paperweight.

Not all was bad about Broken Yolk; I thought the service was good. Our coffee and water was kept refreshed, and our Server was the epitome of efficiency and professionalism. I felt really quite guilty about Her having to walk all the food up the stairs. When I mentioned this to Her, she told me "It keeps me in shape". If you’re feeling especially ambitious, Broken Yolk serves something called the "Broken Yolk Café Special"($18.99). It’s a dozen-egg omelet served in a pizza pan, with mushrooms, onions, American cheese and smothered with chili and cheese. On the other half of the pan is homefries and two biscuits. Eat it all within an hour and it’s only $1.98 and receive a complimentary T-Shirt. Angioplasty not included….. Good Luck!

In the end, I think I’ll blame it on the "bag". Not that I’m superstitious, right?

Broken Yolk Cafe
1851 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

Bully’s East – Carnivore’s Feast

February 1, 2006 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Steakhouse

Every once in a while, maybe once or twice a year I get a major red meat craving. And for me, the best way to quench said craving is to get a nice piece of prime rib. If we’re having steak, unless it’s something along the lines of Fleming’s or Ruth’s Chris, I’d rather make it at home. But prime rib is another story. I just want one meal, so making a whole prime rib roast just doesn’t make sense. So last night we headed over to a real "old school" San Diego establishment; Bully’s.

Now Bully’s has been at this location, just South of the 8 Freeway for over 30 years, and the bar is a favorite with "locals" for Happy Hour. From the dark red leather booths to the wood paneling, to the dim lighting(please excuse the lousy photos); Bully’s screams "Old School". Even though the decor may scream staid and stuffy, the atmosphere is definitely casual. Though we thought there would be no problem getting a table without reservations at 5 pm on a Tuesday evening, we were lucky. The bar area was packed, and we snagged one of the last open tables.

Though the menu at Bully’s includes everything from King Crab and Lobster to Chicken and Ribs, there’s only one reason I come to Bully’s. It’s the prime rib.

Wanting to pay undivided attention to my red meat, we didn’t order any appetizers, or sides, and just got down to business.

The Missus ordered the Bully Burger with Bacon and Avocado($9.50). And of course I ordered a prime rib. But first came our salads.

A nice old fashioned green salad with ranch dressing on the side since we had to watch our calories….yeah, right! The salad was fine, fresh and crisp, and the croutons were very crunchy. There must have been something right about the salads, we both finished ours.

The Missus’s Burger:

The Missus enjoyed the thick cut bacon and avocado. The burger was formed into an oblong shape to fit the bun. The burger was under seasoned and lacked a beefy punch, but was so very moist and tender, and cooked to a perfect medium-well. The fries were mediocre and a bit soggy.

I had ordered a 22oz Prime Rib($28.95), the 32oz cut had tempted me, but I showed amazing restraint. My cut arrived on a platter, along with a light au jus and horseradish sauce.

Cooked to a perfect medium rare, this piece of bone-in prime rib was fork tender(I tested it), and nicely flavored. I didn’t need any of the condiments provided, and scarfed this baby down in about 10 minutes flat. I slowed down after the Missus threatened to call National Geographic. Need I say it? Very delici-yoso!!! The Garlic Mashed potatoes were slightly chunky, and very garlicky, and also under seasoned. I get the feeling that sides are pretty much an after thought at Bully’s.

The damage? Not bad $44 total. And a bone for the Boyz!

Bully’s provides decent quality, reasonably priced Steaks and Seafood, though some dishes(especially the "sides") may seem a bit dated and tired. And fills that niche, above the usual Neighborhood Steakhouse(i.e. Black Angus), and below the quality and the sometimes eye-popping prices at Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris. It’s not a bad niche to fill! Also if you’ve got a craving for a prime rib at 1130pm, Bully’s might be the place for you!

Bully’s East
2401 Camino Del Rio S
San Diego, CA 92108
Mon-Fri 11am-1215am
Sat-Sun 10am-1215am

Ch-ch-chain: Popeye’s

November 1, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Chains

I think most of you know my Mutts, Frankie and Sammy:

Now why the silly look on Sammy’s face? well, he’s just heard his favorite word in the world; "Bubbles". You see, Sammy lives for his "Bubble Buddy" flavored bubbles; just mention the word and he’ll stick his head up "huh?" And run to the backdoor, panting, with his tongue hanging out, sometimes barking with a desperate "rawr-rawr-rawrrrr", or sometimes he’ll do all his "tricks", in order; down, sit, beg, shake hands, roll-over, give me 10. If we’re on a walk, he’ll grab his own leash and run home. It’s gotten to the point that we have to spell out, B-U-B-B-L-E-S whenever we talk, god forbid he learn to spell!

Now what the heck does Sammy have to do with Popeye’s Fried Chicken you may ask? Well, not to long ago, a friend of mine told me; "You know, Kirk, there’s not much that differentiates us from animals. Just a few thin strands of DNA." Well I’ve found the truth in this when it comes to Popeye’s:

We’ll be watching television, and the Missus would say; "Popeye’s?", and I’d run to the front door keys in hand, panting, tongue half hanging from my mouth, saying; "Ok, ok, let’s go."(rawr-rawr-rawrrrr?) If she doesn’t think that we should go, I start doing all of my tricks; mostly hints like "Popeye’s would reaaallly be good", and such. (Maybe rollover might work?) It’s a darn good thing that I can spell P-O-P-E-Y-E-‘S, though if she said it in Mandarin, I may not understand.

I’ll put up with alot for my Popeye’s; the ever shrinking pieces of chicken, the blase’ service, even the fact that they regularly run out of spicy pieces. But for us, Popeye’s is only for chicken nothing else. Frankly the sides, suck. The fries are usually soggy in a minute, the cole slaw tastes funny, the mash potatoes and gravy has bits of pan scum, and though the Missus likes the Red Beans and Rice. We once left them in the frig, and when opened the next morning a whole layer of white waxy saturated fat was revealed. The onion rings used to be good, until they changed them to something called "Onion Stix", that look like left over pieces of onions dipped in batter and fried.

Yes, it’s just chicken, nice and juicy, spicy, with a streak of spices running down the inside, crunchy on the outside, chicken:

It’s usually the Dark Meat(w/Tabasco) for me, and the Breast and Wings for the Missus and the Boyz. The next day, it’s the leftover pieces and some Musubi (onigiri). Prices? Well there’s always some deal going on; 13 pieces for $11.99, 9 pieces for $7.99, 15 pieces for your old used car or boat.

Oh, and don’t get on my case about making fried chicken. I do know how to make it. But after 10 hours of work, and a week of oncall, I ain’t going to get the kitchen all greasy!

Just give me Popeye’s. I guess, Sammy and I are alot "closer" then I thought, maybe he really is my son?

Popeye’s – They’re everywhere!

Hey, don’t forget about me…..

Ch-Ch-Chain: Fuddruckers – What the Fudd is this about?

September 8, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Chains

Yes, yes, I know it's a "Chain" but after Sarah's post on Wahoo's on The Delicious Life, I thought I'd work on my backlog of these chain type establishments. Seeing as I now take my camera almost everywhere! Ch-ch-chain, Chain of Fools……

I've passed a few locations of Fuddruckers, but have always been hesitant to stop and check it out. Probably because the name is really somewhat unsavory in my opinion. After all the first part 'Fudd' rhymes with Mudd, Dudd, and for some reason the word "Rug" keeps popping up. As for the "ruckers" part, um, well, let's just "pass" on that one……

This location in Mission Valley used to be a Koo Koo Roo (I believe they're owned by the same parent company). As a matter of fact a friend of mine used to be a regular customer, I'm guessing one of the few customers! This same friend has recently converted to a Vegetarian lifestyle, loss of her patronage is what probably put this location of Koo Koo Roo out of business. Well anyway, I decided to give ~~Fudgepa,~~ um, Fuddruckers a try. After all they modestly claim to serve "The World's Greatest Hamburgers", yeah, right!

I entered and walked up to the counter and the very "chipper" Gal greeted me with "Welcome to, blah, blah, blah…" the rest was a blur, she spoke so fast she should be reading the "fine print" for those car commercials. Somehow, I managed to order the 1/2lb Swiss Melt ($5.65), and even made it a combo ($3.45). I paid, and sudden a cheer of "YAY!!!" was exclaimed by all the Employees, had me somewhat befuddled. Did they all just get raises, did the restaurant change it's name, are they happy that I actually paid for my food? Well no; it seems that if they ask you if this is your first visit, and you're foolish enough to answer yes, they give you some kind of cheer. Could I please return to planet Earth now?

Along with the receipt, I was given was this:

Yes, it was some kind of Atomic Coaster, there was a flashing red light, and everything! I figured if you were a bad customer, they'd press a button, and POOF! Your name is Fudd…. About that time another "chipper" Young Lady wearing a Fuddruckers uniform came by and introduced herself; "Hi, I'm blah, blah ,blah…" guess what, another auctioneer in training. I moved to another table and she followed, I moved to another table and she followed again. I was starting to get really afraid. I was being followed by a Fuddrucker! A few moments later my "coaster" flew off the table, all lights flashing – I guess my burger had reached "DefCon 1".

I went and picked up my burger and headed of to the dressing and condiment bar. There were at least a dozen different dressings, with at least three types of mustard! The good; well you can really "have it your way". The bad; if this is the "World's Best Burger" why would you have to drench it in BBQ sauce? I did like the condiment bar, though. And every thing's marked with clear signage, except where the damned straws are!!! Even my own personal "Fuddrucker" couldn't find it!

So the burger? Well as mentioned, I ordered a 1/2lb burger, but can you find it? I guess it's the old "before cooking" fine print. I did enjoy the mushrooms, and grilled onions. The burger was juicy, though kinda tough, and pretty much tasteless – that's why you get all those dressings! Nothing worse than an under seasoned burger. The fries were the wedge type and well seasoned with salt, pepper, and what looked like paprika. These tasted pretty good.

World's Greatest Hamburger? Not even close. Though the prices really aren't that bad. Ostrich, and other "exotic" burgers are offered, though, if my burger was tough, can you imagine how Buffalo or Ostrich would be? Also, maybe it's a product of my cynical attitude, but I have a real problem with a place that needs to put you into a "good mood" to prepare you for the food……

Fuddruckers coming to a failed strip mall business near you……

B & B Catering and Deli

August 19, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Diner

I’ve passed this place many, many, times. I guess it fascinates me, because of the scope of dishes and cuisines that are covered on the windows:

If you read the windows they make Curry, Teriyaki, Roast Turkey, Country Fried Steak, Chorizo, Machaca, and on and on. At least it doesn’t say “authentic” anywhere. The other thing is that this place is only open from 7am to 3 pm from Monday to Friday, and closed on weekends. Best way to get me into a restaurant? Locate it in an obscure spot, and never be open during the hours I’ll be able to eat! Can you spell S-U-C-K-E-R! The one thing that keeps me going is that for every 5-10 borderline places there’s a “Ray’s Cafe”. So this little place is located on the road leading into Montgomery Field, a small community air field located in the Kearny Mesa area. Today I noticed a police car and several other vehicles in the front of B&B. A good sign!

As I walked up to the door there was a little board with the daily specials. There on the top was Bulgogi(???), along with Pepper Steak, Veal & Spaghetti, Polish Sausage, and Mushroom Burger! Now my curiosity had hit a peak! I had to go in. As I walked in, all became clear. This was a cafeteria type operation.

There were lot’s of hot table items and sandwiches. The people running the operation were Korean, as a matter of fact, the first question when I went up to the counter was “are you Korean?” I told them I wasn’t, but of course I ordered the Bulgogi ($5.99).

This item was actually made in the kitchen and brought out to me. Actually it wasn’t half bad. Sort of a pseudo teriyaki stir fry with sesame oil, a bit too much on the sweet side. Was it Bulgogi, uh, no. But it wasn’t bad. The meat was tender, the veggies not over cooked, not too bad.

So with this under my belt and being in the neighborhood, I decided to stop by for another lunch. As I walk up to the cafeteria line, there’s a huge hunk of meat lying on a board. It’s the roast beef ($5.95). Of course I can’t resist a huge hunk of meat! I order the roast beef to go:

So I watched the roast beef carved, and there must’ve been something “wrong” with how and what I ordered. When the same person I dealt with before asked me what kind of salad I wanted, I asked what kind do you have, he said “look it’s over there”! Ohhh-kay…. So after getting home and opening the dish, here are my observations. First thing I noticed is (“it’s over there look”) is that they served me the scalded rice, the ugly brown scald on the rice portion, looks like someone took the rice and wiped, ooops, don’t go there, yuck. The roast was tough, though it looked good on the board, it was singularly tasteless even with the au jus, the green beans canned, the roll inedible, and the salad had a ton of apple in it, or maybe that’s all I could taste. Then it came to me, this must be the Montgomery Field cafeteria, and I’ve voluntarily eaten here! And by the way, the police car I saw was for the RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Police), say no more. You’d think I’d have learned by now!

B & B DELI & CATERING
8690 Aero Drive #120
San Diego, CA 92123

Open 7 am to 3 pm Monday thru Friday

Papa Doc’s Restaurant

August 17, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

*** Papa Doc’s has closed.

So the phone rings, and I answer. The voice on the other side goes "you know it’s addictive, right", who else could it be? I asked "so, you want to go to Magnolia’s again"?, "No, of course not. I want you to find another place". Well it seems that the Missus is going through a slight "Soul Food" addiction. Which left me to try and find another Southern Food restaurant. I remembered hearing about a place on University Ave, East of College, called Papa Doc’s. So I thought we’d give it a try. We found Papa Doc’s in a little strip mall in East San Diego.

As we entered the interior of Papa Doc’s we gasped, the restaurant was beautifully adorned, in stark contrast to the generic, dusty, strip mall it occupies. The entrance was bordered by two large fish tanks, and there was a lovely mural on the rear wall. There were videos of gospel programs that they have on premises playing on the flat screen televisions.

The menu was full of favorites like baby back ribs, fried halibut, fried catfish, and one tempting dish called "Slap Yo Mamma Meat Loaf" ($13.50). I decided to order the Fried Chicken Dinner ($13.25); I was told that they make it to order and it’ll take about 18 minutes. No problem. I thought the Missus would order the Fried Catfish ($11.25), but instead asked the server, who ended up being the Co-Owner Diane, about something called The Trout Platter ($21.25), she asked if this dish is fried and received an affirmative response, to which she replied "I’ll have that." There’s a little note on the bottom of the menu which states, "Sorry, no calorie or carb watchers here." Sounds like my kind of place.

We were immediately served some piping hot corn bread muffins:

These were moist and very buttery, it’s good that these were served hot, they would not have been as good cold. We scarfed these up in no time. About 10 minutes later my Fried Chicken was brought to the table:

I had ordered Corn Bread Dressing and Collard Greens (what else?) as my sides. The greens were a bit of a disappointment, very dry, with almost a fishy taste, though there were pieces of ham hock, the flavor seemed off. The corn bread dressing was a 180 degree turn, it was moist, with a nice richness and a bit of spice, and a slight grainy texture, with onions, delici-yoso! The 4 pieces of chicken were still sizzling when it reached the table, and stayed hot for the entire duration of the meal. The batter was simple, yet very good, with good amounts of salt and pepper. I handed a piece of the batter to my wife who tasted it, and said, "better than pork rinds!" Which is a complement of the highest order in this household. I’m also glad that the four pieces were all "dark", 1 drum, 2 wings (lot’s of batter, yummm), and 1 thigh.

By this time the "Trout Platter" arrived:

The one thing about this "trout platter" was that there was no "trout" on it. On this plate were 3 halibut fillets, 3 snapper fillets, 3 catfish fillets, and 3 very large shrimp, on a bed of fries. All fried, of course. The shrimp were excellent, large, moist, tasty, and fresh; the best thing on the plate. I ate them tail and all, if they had "heads" I woulda’ ate them too. The catfish was also excellent, nicely seasoned, very moist and tender. The Snapper was good, a bit thicker, but still tasty. The Halibut was a bit too thick for this type of frying, and ended up being dry, and bland. All of this was served with a nice tartar sauce, lemon and hot sauce. Again there were the totally routine fries, though these were better than those we had at Magnolia’s last night. Next time we’ll have catfish, shrimp, and fried chicken.

So how does Papa Doc compare to Magnolia’s? The food at Magnolia’s is alot more refined and lighter. Papa Doc’s will "stick to your ribs" and you’ll need to take a nap after. Papa Doc’s was more like "home cooking". They’re both good and worth a try.

Some Notes: Papa Doc’s serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The service is very nice and friendly! "Papa Doc", David Cannon came out and made sure to stop at every table and say hello, he also had to come out and see who was eating the "Trout Platter".

Time to give my arteries a rest…..

Papa Doc’s Restaurant

6523 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92115

619-583-3627

Magnolia’s Authentic Southern Dining and Cocktails

August 16, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food

*** Magnolia’s has closed

I’d been waiting a long while to visit Magnolia’s. Located in a strip mall anchored by a Food For Less Supermarket, Magnolia’s is a little gem, on the Euclid Trolley stop. What hastened our trip was that Magnolia’s had been featured on a local news cast, so I had to move it up to the top of my list. We also had our dinner a bit earlier than usual, so there would be no crowds.

The first thing you notice about Magnolia’s are the raised ceilings and warm wood seating. The seating in the booths are all cloth lined, giving the place a very warm feel. There are several tables out front and a large outdoor eating “patio” out back. We were greeted with smiles and requested a table outside, it was a really nice, almost fall like day; perfect setting for Southern Cookin’. Looking through the menu with all the Southern favorites we made our decisions. We ordered fried oysters to start ($8.50).

We were served 6 large and very juicy, briny oysters, coated with a thin layer of cornmeal, and not a bit of grease! The cornmeal was nice and grainy, combined with the juicy oysters, this was a real treat. Just a squeeze of lemon and a touch of cocktail sauce and I was in oyster heaven! Next up was the smothered chicken ($12.50), this came with two sides; and I chose, mashed potatoes and collard greens.

Smothered chicken is just good, simple old fashioned family style Southern cooking, and this was no exception. The gravy was creamy and nicely complemented the dark meat, however the white meat was a bit tasteless and dry. This was a half chicken, maybe I coulda’ gotten all dark meat? The mashed potatoes were the “natural smashed” type and were good. The star of the dish were the Collard Greens; man I haven’t had greens this good since I worked in Atlanta for almost a year a while back. At first bite sweet, the middle of your tongue tastes the “green” (like luau leaf!), and there’s a slight bitter aftertaste, and the “likker” was wonderful, delici-yoso!!!

Here’s a picture of the Crawfish Ettouffe($15.00).

The ettouffe had a nice level of spiciness, but was not as thick and as flavorful as those I’ve had in the past. Maybe the purpose was to feature the taste of the generous amount of crawfish (there was alot!) in the dish. Very nice though not the best I’ve had.

Here’s the Fried Catfish($12.00).

As with the oysters before, the catfish was wonderfully breaded, moist, not greasy, and just fantastic with the homemade tartar sauce; which is fairly surprising as we both hate tartar sauce. This was catfish heaven! The hushpuppy’s were a bit dense for my taste, but the Missus loved them. The fries were no big deal, just routine, and the cole slaw was much too sweet.

I also ordered a side of fried okra ($2.50), that were not bad, but not “wow”. We were also served cornbread muffins, moist, and really nice and gritty, though not sweet enough for my tastes, again the Missus loved them!

No room for dessert today, though the menu features such comfort favorites as sweet potato pie and peach cobbler (all $5.00).

The verdict, stay with the heavenly “fried” foods, get a double (or triple) of collards. Sides (lagniappes) such as red beans, candied yams, or black eyed peas are also on the menu. The orange line stops right across the street, so it’s really “trolley convenient”. The service is warm and friendly. We’ll definitely be back!

Magnolia’s
342 Euclid Ave (Market Creek Square)
San Diego, CA 92114
(619) 262-6005

Gaglione Brothers – And Three Rules

August 15, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cheesesteaks, Sandwiches, What Howie Eats - Where the Foodie from Foodieview Eats

*** This location of Gaglione Bros has closed

Mahalo to Jack and Howie, who both mentioned Gaglione Brothers. Almost a decade ago I had a conference in Philly, so of course I had to try a cheesesteak. A friend of mine took me to two famous stands, Pat’s and Geno’s both with a huge line and you had to kinda know “the rules”, that is, how to order your steak, or you really got a hard time. Well I had this Cheese Whiz thing twice, nice, hot, and gooey, with the faintest hint of beef. And I thought, “what’s the big deal”? But a funny thing happened; about two days later, I’m still in Philly, and for some strange reason I’m craving a cheesesteak. Now I’ve only had this once in my entire life, why the heck am I craving it? I ended up getting a cheesesteak in downtown Philly; wasn’t much good, and it pretty much killed that craving. Until a day later, when I had a cheesesteak in Reading Terminal Market, this time with provolone, and I found my “cheesesteak. I’m convinced that there’s somethin’ in the cheesesteak; some insidious ingredient that after a short gestation causes an extreme craving for another cheese steak sandwich. Fast forward almost a decade later, and a visit to Gaglione Brothers:

This little shop with 5 indoor tables and sports memorabilia, local celebrity pic’s, and family photo’s decorating the walls, and an ever playing television, is located in a pretty secluded section of the Midway Towne Plaza in Point Loma. I had a bit of a problem finding this little storefront initially, but finally made my way there.

There’s a scattering of humor in the menu – for instance the “Sophia Loren” sandwich, is known as a “Hot Italian”. So I ordered a 12 inch Mushroom Cheese Steak ($8.65), which was made to order and ready in about 10 minutes:

This was a gloppy, messy, gooey sandwich, with a hint of “beefiness”. Nice and moist, and the mushrooms added a nice texture. It was filling as heck and left me ready for a nap. As I left the restaurant I thought “this is okay, but not something that I’d really want on a regular basis”. HOWEVER, about a week later, I’m driving along; and a thought enters my head. “Wouldn’t a cheese steak sandwich be really nice right about now”? And there it was again, that nagging craving for a cheese steak! Now I’m really sure there’s something to my belief in “cheese steak addiction”. So I drove down to Point Loma and placed my take-out order.

There were three problems with this sandwich; one was totally my fault, another was in the preparation, and the last was scenario based. The first problem; I ordered only a Mushroom Steak ($7.95), so there was no cheese, man I screwed up! Geeez, how can a cheese steak be a cheese steak, without the cheese. So no gooey, gloppy, goodness. And some of the taste was compromised. The second problem; the steak was too finely chopped. It resembled hamburger, not a cheese steak, and was dry and grainy to which I added spicy brown mustard to resolve. Which leads to number three; I ordered take-out. You see, I didn’t just order the sandwich, I ordered Garlic Fries ($1.95) as well.

There was a good amount of garlic and herbs on the fries, but not enough salt. But because I’d done this take out (15 minutes to home), the fries had gotten a bit limp. I’m sure they would be fine if I ate them in the restaurant.

So the three rules? It’s a cheese steak, so don’t forget the cheese! Hope that they don’t mince the meat too finely. And eat them at the restaurant. Can someone tell me what makes these so addicting?

Gaglione Brothers

3944 West Point Loma Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110

(619)758-0646
Open 11am to 9pm Daily