American/New American Restaurants – Page 50

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

EZ Take Out Burger – 99 cent burger night

August 10, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Burgers

*** EZ Take-Out Burger has closed

I was told a while back that this little burger stand on Genesee Avenue, had burgers "as good as In N Out". And even better, they had 99 cent burger nights on Wednesdays and Sundays from 4pm to closing. So hey, what day is it? It’s Wednesday, and any day is a good day for a burger (or two).

This little retro-looking burger stand features a little kitchen and 3-4 tables outside. There are actually people dodging each other in the kitchen area. I noticed alot of descriptions were very "In-N-Outish", like the "Double-Take" (see Double-Double).

I ordered 3 burgers, no spread (we like to actually taste the burger), with all the produce, and 2 orders of fries – it came out to $5.98! Bargain city! We had also wanted one of their Boysenberry Shakes($1.85), but the shake machine was out of order. Bummer. We sat outside and in a few minutes my number was called and our burgers were ready.

Looks pretty good, huh? Unfortunately looks are deceiving. The burger was pretty dry, even though it just came off the grill, and pretty tasteless. The best part of the whole sandwich were the onions and tomatoes. How does it measure up against In N Out? Not even close. The burger is better than one of those major chain fast food burgers, but not by much. Is it worth 99 cents? If you look at it that way, I’d say yes, but again, not by much. The fries look really good but were under cooked, and got soggy really quickly. It’s still better than In-N-Out’s, I really don’t care much for the fries there. I’d actually been here once and had the fries while I waited for Honey Baked Hams who share the same parking lot, to open and thought they were pretty good. The best fries I’ve ever had was at, of all places, a stand called Y-Not Burgers in Torrance. For some reason all the planets were aligned that day, and the fries were golden, perfectly crisp, soft inside, and with a nice potato taste. I remember standing, and holding the "holy fry" up to the light, and exclaiming, "this is amazing, this fry is perfect"…..and was immediately told to "sit down, you’re acting like a fool, people are looking at you". I guess this galvanizing moment was not appreciated by all.

EZ Take Out Burger, 99 cent burgers (cheese extra) on Wednesdays and Sundays. There is usually a long wait in the drive thru, I’d rather take my chances by parking and going inside. Real ice cream shakes, boysenberry is a favorite.

EZ Take Out Burger
4277 Genesee Avenue
San Diego, CA 92117

Hey, where’s our shake!!!

Crest Cafe – Got the Monday Blues? Get a Butter Burger!

July 11, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Burgers, Diner, Sandwiches

Whew what a Monday! Needing a break, I headed up the street aimlessly and didn’t stop until I was on the doorstep of the Crest Cafe.

Now I had been here several times, but did not really know why I’d wandered here. I entered and couldn’t believe my eyes, the place was totally empty. On weekend mornings there’s no way you can get in without a wait; this neighborhood joint is jumpin’. What I’ve always noticed about Crest Cafe is that it always smells like breakfast, pancakes and maple syrup for that matter. You can drop in at 11pm and it’ll still smell like pancakes and maple syrup. Maybe it’s something in the AC? By now I focused in on the menu, and set my sights on a Butter Burger($8.25). What’s a Butter Burger you ask? Well it’s a half pound burger, stuffed with an herb-garlic butter, topped with cheddar cheese, with more melted butter and a garlic mayonnaise. There was a good chance that after I ate this burger, I wouldn’t see Tuesday, but whatever, I was willing to take the risk! The previous 2 or so times I’ve been here I ordered the Oui Oui Burger, and it was pretty good sized, no wee-wee burgers served here. To complete the job I ordered fries as my side. The burger arrived on a huge egg roll. Now looking at this you’d think that it was all roll, but that wasn’t the case. The roll was perfectly toasted, the burger charred on the outside, and super moist on the inside. Overall the burger had a very rich, not greasy feel, but was under seasoned, I’d say even somewhat bland considering all of the effort to inject rich flavorful seasonings into and onto the burger. One of my pet peeves is food that’s under salted; I mean, you supposedly have all this butter, all this nice meat, you cook it by-the-book, it’s retains moisture and has a great texture, but you forget the salt and pepper. You can say I can add my own, but it’s not the same as if the burger was seasoned during cooking. The fries were “natural” (I really don’t know what you call them – maybe a fry expert can tell me), think In-and-Out, a little larger with the skin attached. Nice potato flavor, but again under seasoned. I did finish all of them, so they must be pretty good, but of course I’ve never met a fry I didn’t like! Overall, not a bad burger, but next time I’ll stick with the Oui Oui – Blue Cheese under Melted Jack, no flavor short circuit there!

A few notes; the Crest Cafe, has a combination of chair and bench-style seating, and when filled can be quite cramped. Also, all the surfaces are pretty “hard”, making this a really loud room. By the time I’d left the room had filled both with people and noise. I’ve heard that the breakfasts here, especially the French Toast is good, but have never had breakfast here. One really good thing about the Crest Cafe is that they are open till midnight. Here in San Diego, any establishment that doesn’t roll up it’s sidewalks at 9pm is gladly welcomed.

Crest Cafe
425 Robinson Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
Phone: (619) 295-2510
Open: 7am to Midnight Daily

Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour

June 20, 2005 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Desserts, Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt

*** I think most San Diego residents know from the press coverage, that as of July 31st 2006, Farrell’s has closed it’s doors. A sad day for all…..

Caution, the following post may bring on severe side effects associated with a case of terminal nostalgia!

I don’t think that you could’ve grown up in Honolulu in the 70’s and early 80’s without having gone to Farrell’s at least once! Bright, loud, and rollicking, the pounding of the drums, and the siren going off when a "zoo" was being delivered! Farrell’s is very near and dear to the hearts of those raised during that era.

Then, it seems like overnight they all started closing one by one, until I walked by the location of my favorite in Kahala Mall, and found they were gone……

Until today that is. I had read that one of the last two Farrell’s(the other is in Santa Clarita) in existence is located in Mira Mesa just about 12 miles North; but I had never made the effort to go there. After all they say "you can never really go back home again"…. But I made mention of Farrell’s on Ono Kine Grindz, and man if we didn’t start waxing nostalgic! So of course, a trip was in order…..

The Farrell’s in Mira Mesa is located in a mall across from a Target store, next to a Domino’s pizza. The location looked really plain and we almost missed it, how so "Un-Farrell’s" – like :

As we walked in, all of the "classic" kitsch-y, faux 90’s Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour decor was on display. From the booths to the tiffany lamps, to the red and gold wallpaper, to the player piano, it was all there. The old Farrell’s spirit and excitement was missing however. It was unusually dark, and Adults out-numbered children 5 to 1, and it was very quiet. Maybe because it was Father’s day, who knows! There were three what looked like Middle-Aged Siblings with a Gentleman who was obviously their dad having lunch and ice cream. We were seated and handed the classic Farrell’s Newsprint Menu! With great joy I turned to the back and saw that The Zoo, Volcano, and Pig’s Trough, were still on the menu! In fact most of the ice cream desserts that I remembered were still on the menu. On the downside, no Gastronomicaldelicatessenepicurean’s Delight, bummer! And in deference to the location there was stuff like Pot Stickers, Asian Chicken Strips, and Tempura Vegetables, on the menu. Very strange. The classic Patty Melt and Whing Ding Hot Dog are still on the menu however.

We ordered a "Crunchy Burger" (not a classic I know) and a Banana Royale (a classic). The burger was pretty good, tasty, well cooked, as good as I remember. The Banana Royale was also good, no frills vanilla ice cream, real good thick fudge, and nuts. The Missus kept asking me why the fudge was so thick, and I had to explain that this is not the thin, runny, squeeze bottled stuff. I eventually showed Her the fudge warmer.

So what’s the verdict? I actually enjoyed my burger enough to return. Farrell’s is a little worse for wear, and alot of the atmosphere is gone, but those memories are still there. There’s a site with an exhaustive history of Farrell’s.

Here’s to the memories!

Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour
10606 Camino Ruiz
Mira Mesa, CA 92126