CSUB Dining Commons All you can eat deal with all of your favorite dishes that you know and love. By: Luis Omar Arevalo The Time in the Commons April 3, 2011 Sometimes a student wants decent food that he or she can get in a break from college like homework, taking notes, coming to class every day, doing class works, etc. Yet many students don’t have the time to sit down and have a good meal to have when they are hungry. Sometime they don’t have time to eat before and/or after class due to homework assignment from single or multiple classes that have been assigned. So what the school did is they created the place called dining Commons that is suitable for the people who are living in the dorm; overall, it’s for the students who are living far and living on-campus. CSUB Dining Common is a place where students come, too be with their friends, be away from school work and eat their favorite meal right by their dorms; it is also welcome to other students who are living in Bakersfield. Students dig into some homemade meals, to salad bars, to make it yourself sandwich, and of course everyone’s favorite food pizza. Everyone has the free will to choose his or her food to create their own meal that’s in the Common. When I first went to the Commons during my stay in the Fall Quarter the tables were good. They got new tables in the mid January. The chairs look like school chairs except their mint to be to sit down in the dining common. CSUB dorm students must use a CSUB ID card in order to use their meal plan and dining dollars without paying real money except for the people who are not living on-campus. Each and every day, Chef Matt Corbett cooks the best food and sets them in food meals that is good tasting, and healthy. The Common is part of the housing office along with the student mailbox. Pizza, the number one food in the Dining Commons Usually the commons serves pizza almost every day and the first food that you see before getting anything else in the food Sevier area. The pizza is good dish to start with, for me at least. Though it’s not the pizza like Domino, Little Caesars, Pizza Hut, or any pizza company that we had to order to your house, but it is a homemade pizza that you can eat in the dining commons so that way you won’t have to spend 10 to 20 bucks on a pizza that a person has to order from a random pizza place to your dorm and I don’t want to that in my future years living in the dorm. The pizza smells good, it taste good and it feels up your stomach fast depending how much you get. I usually start with two slices of pepperoni pizza. I hear rumors about the pizza from different students that are living in the dorm. They said that the pizza taste crap and that it’s not good as the other pizzas, it’s to grease to eat, or they just want to eat other food rather than the pizza, but I disagree. The pizza comes with the toppings of pepperoni, bacon, ham, sausage, or whatever it is the chef can put in the pizza’s menu on an everyday meal and also how it looks to have students eat it. It depends on the chef that is making the pizza good, how good did the pizza come out, and how many pizzas that the people are from the dorm are going to eat them. Overall, the pizza is a good start to have in my everyday apatite because I love pizza, it taste good, it smells good, looks good to eat, and I feel joy while eating a pizza.
Guadalupe Perez Dr. Schmoll English 100 Build It Soccer moms in every direction counting how many kids are in line waiting to build their own burger. Colorful jerseys everywhere; however, this is not including the custumers that are there just to have lunch. Juicy Burger, on 24th Street on a Saturday afternoon is as busy as a sports bar during football season. Their service is quick and very efficient in the sense that everyone creates their own burger. I believe this is why many parents bring their children to Juicy burger because the parent doesn’t have to worry about what they will put in their child’s burger and the child will not like it. The child gets too choose the dressings, cheese, and the burger they would like. Their specific way of ordering at Juicy Burger brings a quite fascinating crowd to the restaurant. Their way of ordering makes it beneficial to everyone and not just children. As I Walk up to order my burger, they had everything in six steps of what I wanted in my burger. This was very interesting because how often do people to go to a restaurant and say exactly what they would like on their burger. The steps went like this choosing the burger, bun, toppings, premium toppings, cheese, and finally the sauces. The pricing was very reasonable, especially since you get to choose from so many delicious ingredients. Juicy Burger brought back memories of pool parties and beautiful days out in the park. It brought back these memories because the only other time I remember building my own burger is when I was at a family barbeques and all the ingredients are out for everyone to prepare their own burger. The ingredients are not just your typical mayo, ketchup, and bacon. Juicy Burger has exotic and special sauces as well as premium toppings that include Ortega chili, grilled pineapples, cilantro mayonnaise, Tabasco ketchup and a few more. As I was waiting for my burger to be ready, I noticed that the soda machine was in a very unusual place. Soda machines are typically next to your napkins and utensil somewhere away from causing chaos, but at the Juicy Burger the soda machines were located on the right side in a corner from where you order. As people waited in line to order you can see people trying to get something to drink all in the same area which caused all the chaos to be in the front of the restaurant. People were very polite and Juicy Burger has a great atmosphere, when I looked around people were enjoying their burgers while they laughed and conversed. Juicy Burger isn’t a McDonalds’s sized restaurant; on the other hand it’s the bitty burger spot that people attend to enjoy their food with pleasure. Juicy Burger would not be a restaurant where office CEO’s would have a business meeting, but it would be a restaurant where your able to take your kids and be able to speak at a normal tone of voice. I received my order and I was as excited as a kid when they see candy. I opened my burger from the paper wrap and the freshly cooked meat smelled fabulous, straight from the grill. My mouth watered just by looking at how incredibly delicious my burger looked. I could see the pepper jack melted cheese oozing down the meat patty. I couldn’t wait any longer I had to take my first bite and I felt like I was in heaven. I was truly amazed of how wonderful and tasty my burger was. I could see how the people that attend Juicy Burger look so happy while they’re there. The food is phenomenal and makes an individual ecstatic. My burger was everything I was hoping it to be I had and extravagant experience at the Juicy Burger I do have to admit I was not expecting to have the experience I did. I thought it would be like any other burger place. I can say that the Juicy Burger has been one of my best restaurant experiences. Even though there were so many people in a not very spacious location, everything came together in its own way. The costumer service and the people who were there to eat were great. I felt like I was in the happiest place on earth.
Checkers Restaurant Review Checkers a little bit past the corner of Calloway Drive and Seabeck Ave has food that will make you go back for more. When you make a left and enter the parking lot to Checkers, you will notice a bunch of parking. That is an amazing plus. The small center where Checkers is located has been remodeled. It seems as if it’s the only building with a running business. Next to Checkers, there is a Frederico Career College. Most of the business around it look either abandoned or never been open before. Checkers is very convenient and offers two drive thru lanes and about 5 round tables with umbrellas for outside seating. If you ever been to Checkers you would know that not many location offer inside seating. Interesting fact, many people also know Checkers as Rally’s. They were both founded separately, but soon tagged teamed to make and amazing late 80’s themed restaurant. The part I love the most, is that from the order window, I can see the workers make my burger. I can tell they take their time and make to make it amazing. I ordered a Bacon Chop House burger with large fries and a regular drink. The burger is made up of two buns, a steamy fresh out of the girl patty, lettuce, Thousand Island dressing, bacon, and fries. Yes fries. Unlike McDonalds nasty poorly made burgers, this Bacon Chop House looks a lot like the advertised picture. My first bite of the burger made me happy because I was no longer hungry. All these different flavors dancing around your mouth are gratifying. The bacon feels so soft and chewable. Not as if they cooked it too long. Biggest pet peeve is when the bacon is too hard. The cheese was not completely melted which is delicious. The patty is the perfect seasoned; not too much and not too little. The best part is that it’s not a messy burger. The famous Checkers fries. They were hot, crispy, yet soft inside and amazingly seasoned. You know how every other fast food restaurants fries are simple and golden? Well the thing that makes these fries stand out is its peppery taste. I don’t think I have ever gotten a small fry in my order. The fries are pretty tall, darkish, and you can see the pepper seasoning. Checkers is very lenient when they add the pepper season. That’s truly what makes them different than another fast food French Fries. Another amazing part of these fries is that they are always crunchy. They don’t get soggy like most fries. The only down side of the fries is the price. A large order averages about $2.39 and a small order about $1. 39. They don’t only offer regular fries you can also order fully loaded fries, Bacon Cheddar fries, Bacon Ranch Fries, and good old Chili Cheese Fries. The fully loaded fries are a combination of fries, melted cheddar cheese, ranch and bacon pieces. The Bacon Cheddar fries and Bacon Ranch Fries are what their name says they have. As mentioned before, most rally locations do not offer inside seating. But if you’re lucky enough you can find a location with outdoor seating, which is still good. Checkers doesn’t only offer burgers. They also offer chicken strips, hot dogs, and wings. They have 5 different flavors of wings, Medium Buffalo, Honey BBQ, Asian Kick, Angry Buffalo, and Garlic Parmesan. Their wings are always fresh. I have only tried the Medium Buffalo, personally they were spicy. But this is coming from someone who rarely eats spicy food The overall appearance of the restaurant is welcoming. The staff is very nice and tries to connect with their customers. The cashier who attended me was very friendly. The cleanliness of the restaurant gets an A+. The wait for your food is fairly reasonable considering that they don’t make your order until you order it. For me that’s an important quality. Why would you want to go to a restaurant where the food was made 4 hours ago? In all, I enjoyed my visit to Checkers. Next time you are on a food run, I suggest you check out this amazing restaurant; if you want a great service, great food, and especially a great experience.
The food station, the variety for you to choose from and how it taste After getting pizza on my plate I head to the next station of the food area, which they have a variety food to have like chicken, ham, rice, fish, corn, etc. It also depends on the chief on what he is going to put on the menu for each different day. So far I like most of the food on the meal that the Common puts on the menu for lunch and dinner for use to have something in our stomach. Therefore, the food they served use is sometimes good and sometimes bad. I noticed that some of the foods that I ate for the past two quarters are a bit odd. One time I ate a fish that was removed from the pound right next to the dining commons and the dorm area and it had no flavor what so ever. It tasted like there was no kick to it and it just tasted like garbage. The other time that I had was a mix of rice, chicken, and beef from the random food service it tasted dried, it looked like it was a vomit from a baby, and it did not have that kick that you can feel. Sometimes the service from the food menu will give you a crappy food; however, at less some of them are not as bad as the other food that I have eaten. The ones I liked are chicken nuggets, flavored chicken, hamburger, turkey burger, or basically any food that is interesting and of course delicious. I usually eat the food that I see, and ate before I take it and eat it as a meal. Right next to the random food service there is the burger station and the sandwich station. The burger stations have mostly hamburgers, and sometimes turkey burger, and veggie burger. They also have different kinds of burger buns and cheese. I usually get the turkey because it looks like a chicken burger when it’s cooked, and it taste so juicy and good. The sandwich station I don’t usually get in my meal because I like the sandwiches that I made in the house, but I do this in my dorm now. The flavors on the foods that I get are good, but some are just too dry or don’t have flavor at all. What the chief needs to do is put some good flavor into the food that they are going to give out to the students. Therefore, the students can enjoy their food rather than to complain in a secret way. I personally enjoy the common because I made friend from there and I can eat the food that I know. Now in the spring quarter I hardly go to the commons due to my class schedule, but I go there the dining common when I have time, or just go there on the weekend. Rating: 10 Location: At the Dome area Ambience: The Dining Common is big, but not that big. When I pass to the casher to my left is the tables that the students have their meal and also there are two soda machines before sitting down to the table area. And to my right is the food area where you can eat most of of your favorite dishes that you know and love including the salad bar. Service: Friendly and helpful Price: Lunch: $7.50 on Monday-Friday, Brunch: same as the lunch price except it’s on Saturday and Sunday, Dinner $9.00 for Sunday-Saturday. Details: This is basically a common for the people who are living on-campus. It opens Monday-Friday from 11:00 am – 1:30 pm for lunch and from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm for dinner; it also opens on the weekend Saturday–Sunday from 10:30 am-12:30 pm for brunch and from 5:00 pm- 6:30 pm for dinner. The people who are living in the dorm will get a Meal Plan Options; it gives out the number of “all-you-care-to-eat meals” number (depending on what meal plan you going to have) along with Dining Dollars not only at the commons, but also at other campus restaurants like Runner Cafe, Peet’s Coffee, Wahoo’s, and coming soon to CSUB: The Roost.
If you are facing east while standing in front of the In-n-Out Burger on Stockdale Hwy, you are bound to see one of the most extraordinary restaurants in the twenty-first century. Chipotle Mexican Grill has been around since 1993, that is when CEO Steve Ells opened the first Chipotle Mexican Grill in Denver, Colorado.Chipotle is known for its famously big burritos; when the company first opened all that was served was burritos then came tacos then the burrito bowls, which is everything in a burrito without the tortilla. Driving east down Stockdale Hwy you are most likely going to get suck in traffic. When you pass New Stine Road get ready to make a left on Village Lane. When that’s complete, make your first right and find a parking. The Chipotle Mexican Grill parking tends to be packed, but you are always guaranteed to find at least one parking space. The kind of cars you see will vary from $100 cars to $100,000 cars, meaning there are people with different types of income that go and eat there. As you get off your vehicle and walk on in you shall notice happy customers outside, stuffing their faces, laughing, and sharing conversations. While entering you will also notice the beautiful landscape, and the hard work it took making the landscape. As soon as you enter, you will come across people in a single file line. Those people are there for the same reason you are, that is to fill your stomach up with one of the famously delicious burrito bowls. After realizing how long the line is, one starts to think, is this burrito bowl really worth it, then reality hits and says, “O yes it is.” As your in the humongous line, you start thinking about how your whole life is flying by in just a blink of an eye. You start to think about how you were so mean to girls back in grade school, you even think about how you and your best friend in high school stole your Spanish teachers car because he left the keys in it, but returned it before anybody could notice. Just as your about to start thinking about how your mother would tell you stories of her high school days, when she listened to Spring Love by Stevie B. while driving down Chester Ave. with your father, the lovely, hardworking women behind the counter interrupts your thinking and asks you, “What would you like.” You then stare at the menu, already knowing what your going to say, you just have to look at it one more time hoping something different may have changed on the menu. After 5 minutes you then reply with “a steak bowl, please.” The patient worker then asks what type of beans would you like? Pinto please. After the white rice is put in the bowl, the Pinto beans are placed in a nice orderly fashioned way. Then comes the steak. While the worker is scooping up the steak to put on to the bowl, you indeed need to ask for double steak, because I believe the company trains the workers to put barely enough steak. Following the steak, the workers then ask what type of hot sauce would you like. This is where you get creative and get to pick between four different hot sauces. Usually, the red one is the one to choose. The Chipotle server then ask, what would you like on top of the bowl? You get to pick from corn, cheese, sour cream, tomato, guacamole, and lettuce. I pick everything except sour cream, tomato, and guacamole. At the end of picking out what you want on your bowl, the cashier then asks you would you like anything else. Yes, can I get a water bottle and a bag of chips. Along with paying, leaving a tip really comes in handy. It seem as if all the workers let each other know who tips and who does not, because the next time you come in the Chipotle servers will treat you as if you are their royal emperor.
The best part of the whole trip is about to come. Just after paying, finding a seat is next. Finding a table should not be difficult because most of the people that pass through Chipotle Mexican Grill tend to get their orders to go. As you sit down in the comfortable seat, you tend to notice how every one around you is focusing on their plate and eating as if the world was about to end. Instead of eating the steak burrito bowl with a spoon like most others do, try eating it with the chips you have ordered. The first bite of the burrito bowl will taste as if the almighty creator himself made the bowl just for you. When the second bites comes around you will taste the fresh corn and tasty lettuce. As you keep on eating, you then taste the richness of the steak. The steak taste as if the cow volunteered to sacrifice its life, just so that you can have the euphoria experience of tasting the marvelous piece of steak. After all is done, washing the food down with a cold bottled water of water that comes from an area you do not see on a day to day basis, has to be the best part of the entire meal. Once you get up to toss your trash away and start to head back to your car, you then realize how praiseworthy the food really was. So you head back to the cashier and leave a $20 tip and explain to them how you have never had a well tasty meal like that in years. The cashier simply says, “No problem, it’s our job.” You then leave the restaurant happier than a suicide bomber whose bomb did not defuse.
One the corner of New Stine and Ming Avenue in Bakersfield, California, is a waffle house that serves Southern style cooking and goes by the name of J's Place. Its niche in the community is to simply welcome everyone with open arms and deliver consistently delectable home cooking.
I began to wonder why I had never heard of this place before, and yet there were so many great reviews about their food and service. I soon discovered that J's Place customers are typically brought in by word of mouth. I, on the other hand, discovered it by searching “good places to eat in Bakersfield” on Google.com. As soon as I saw J's Place was among them, my boyfriend Andrew and I rushed over there, both of us terribly hungry. Andrew is a slender, tall white boy who eats like he has four stomachs. I’m tall and slender as well, and I have about the same appetite as Andrew. This is a partly why we get along so well.
Upon entering J's Place, you are greeted by either a waiter or waitress with a dynamic personality and gusto. The walls are covered with paintings of people playing jazz music and jazz is even playing in the background. There are usually big families sitting down, with casual clothing, business suits, or jogging wear, enjoying their food and mouth-watering kool-aid while occasionally engaging in conversations with people from across the room. A wooden decoration of the word “faith” is near the kitchen, and it brings a sense of “home” into the restaurant.
Edgar Rodriguez Dr. Schmoll English 100 5 April 2011 Restaurant Review Maui Pho Fusion BBQ & Grill in Bakersfield is one of the best places to eat Asian food. With its broadly ranged menu the food is delicious. As, being the first time in Maui Pho’s the greeting, servings, and service made me love this place. It is located on Ming, on the Home Depot plaza. It has a drive thru, and it seems like it is not a good place to eat at, but in reality it is a decent place. Entering Maui Pho, nice greetings from the workers is the best way to get more customers. The entrance is on the side of the building. It is some sort of counter ordering place with different types of tables in the place for different occasions. In the center it has round tables for eight people per table; along the walls of the place there are squared tables for four people per table; and towards the front of the building there is a long table for a special occasion either for meetings or just a big family gathering having a little more privacy away from the other tables. It might be considered a fast food place, but sure is more like a restaurant. It’s broadly ranged menu always grabs the attention with some images next to the list. The menu is divided into different categories. They have wings, Chinese food, and even seafood. The food is delicious. Appetizers to start with are some egg rolls and salt and pepper shrimp. The order consisted of Hawaiian short ribs, beef pho, and shrimp fried rice. The Hawaiian short ribs were very tasteful with its medium thick barbeque that has its unique taste, that when you are done with the ribs you just want to lick your fingers. Beef Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup that consists of noodles with beef. Beef pho is meant to be steaming hot with raw beef meet just sliced into it and then it cooks in the dish. It came with bean sprouts, mint, cilantro, basil, and citrus which makes it have a better taste. I added some hot sauce and made it tasty on the soup giving the noodles more of a spicy taste. The shrimp fried rice was good too. There was plenty of shrimp which at any other Chinese place they don’t serve you much shrimp. It smelled good and it was well cooked by far this is the best Chinese food in Bakersfield. Fried rice was the traditional fried rice, but the only difference was that it tasted much better and it wasn’t thick as the other fried rice’s I tasted in Bakersfield. The service was astonishing. Even though it was on a busy weekend the workers maintained a very peaceful environment. The waiters would walk around every few minutes to make sure the clients were satisfied with food, service, and or if they wanted anything else. The workers seemed to be happy to work there. They would make a conversation with one making him or her feel like at home. It has a big variety of food. The convenient location just a little of the 99 and down the highly know street of Ming. The food is delicious, and plenty to save. One plate of food can feed up to two persons, but that is not all, each plate is under ten dollars. I would recommend Maui Pho Fusion BBQ & Grill. If the rating was from one star to five from one being very poorly and five being very well, I would give it the full five stars.
Joana Contreras April 5, 2011 English 100 Dr. Schmoll My Hometown Buffet Review Hometown buffet is a wonderful restaurant where people can go with their loved ones and have a nice meal. It’s the type of restaurant that when you walk in we’ll feel like home and also feel very welcome. Everything about this place is wonderful like the service, the people eating, and of course the atmosphere. This is one of my favorite restaurants to go to because after ending there not only does my stomach feel happy but it also makes my day a lot better as well. During my visit at Hometown Buffet this past weekend everyone there including myself felt every relaxed to be in such a friendly environment. The atmosphere was full of enjoyment and the smell of the restaurant made it seem like you could already taste the food being made. Although I was treated like any other customer I really did enjoy my meal and the surroundings of the restaurant. Even though the people around me didn’t notice me I still felt like I was at a family barbeque because when I’m with my family everyone is happy and everyone at hometown buffet was happy as well. Despite the fact the restaurant was full of people and seem like I would have to wait a while before I was assisted a table, fortunately it turn out the other way around. The service there was excellent because once I got there and paid for my meal I didn't have to wait long to be taken to the table. I could tell right away that the people working there were doing anything they could so that people wouldn’t have to wait for a table. Once I was at my table and was done with my done with my meal the waitress would be ready to pick up the pales. Everyone there was on track so that the people that came to hometown buffet would be happy when they left.
Everywhere I would look I would see families having a good time with each other and enjoying each other’s company. It is the types of place were anyone can go and feel calmed like nothing bad can happen. It’s the place I love to go if I was having a bad day simply because seeing everyone cheerful would make me forget why the day turn out to be a bad one. Another thing would be to have a good meal of course for the reason that when I went the food was amazing and of cores since it was a buffet there was a variety of foods to choose from. The buffet had so many different types of food not just American but from cultures as well and a dessert area. i had many options to pick but my first plate was a slender sliced cooked ham, a baked potato with bacon and cheese on the top, also some fried shrimp, and a bowl of soup. It was so tasteful that before I would take a bit I felt my mouth getting watery. I had such a great time there and wouldn't mine going again. It was a nice experience to notice all of the wonderful things that hometown buffet has that I didn't realize before. Hometown buffet is a great restaurant to go to with the people you love and anyone who wants to have a good meal should go there as well.
Vanessa Lopez Restaurant Review English 100.4 Dr. Schmoll My Chinese voyage was to Panda Express on Gosford Road and Pacheco. At the entrance you can smell all sorts of spices. However, you can’t help but notice the ambiance of the place. Panda Express is so peaceful yet so colorful which allows it to stand out even more. Even the workers contribute to brightening the place up with their red, green, yellow, orange, and purple shirts. Although most of the team members are either Mexican or Caucasian, they still manage to pull of that Chinese effect with the soft Chinese background music. Most of the time this place is filled with people and they get and incredibly long line of customers. At Panda Express you can expect to see average human beings enjoying the food, but you rarely see business people holding a meeting there or anything like that so don’t worry about not being to presentable to eat at Panda. Panda Express has a lot of variety when it comes to the sweet, juicy, mouth watering food. A few of my favorites include Honey Walnut Shrimp, Sweet Fire Chicken Breasts, Black Pepper Chicken, and Kung Pao Chicken. Among my favorite sides are the Chow Mein and the Steam Rice. There is many appetizers to choose from but I prefer the Cream Cheese Ragoons. On my visit to Panda Express I ordered a combo that had half Chow Mein and Steam Rice for my side. For my entrees I had the Honey Walnut Shrimp, Sweet Fire Chicken Breasts, and the Black Pepper Chicken. I also ordered a separate entrée of Kung Pao Chicken and Cream Cheese Ragoons. The Honey Walnut Shrimp is by far my favorite. This entrée is prepared with fresh tempura shrimp. It is wok tossed with gourmet honey sauce and topped with glazed walnuts. The shrimp looked very soft and delicate but it is actually a lot crunchier when it recently comes out of the wok. These delicious smelling shrimp dish taste so sweet and mustardy. Next in line is the Sweet Fire Chicken Breasts. This dish is composed of all white chicken meat made with red bell peppers, diced onions and juicy pineapple. It has a zesty sweet chili sauce that makes your tongue tingle when it touches it. When eating this you can hear the crunchy sound of the crispy white chicken chunks. Then I tried the Black Pepper Chicken which is diced chicken accompanied with chopped celery, sliced onions, and fresh ground pepper. All this prepared with ginger soy sauce. This type of meat accumulates water in your mouth just with its smell and because of the pepper it also makes your tongue quiver. Last but not least the spicy Kung Pao Chicken. This stir-fried dish is composed of diced chicken with peanuts, red bell peppers, sliced zucchini, and green onions. According to the Panda Express team members, this dish is their spiciest yet. However, I am use to spicy foods so I did not consider the dish spicy at all but rather appetizing. The experience as a whole was very appealing. All dishes are said to be excellent but I think I had enough with what I tried to know it is high quality Chinese food. Try it and I hope you guys become satisfied as I did.
Sandrini’s Restaurant Review Entering Sandrini’s restaurant requires your careful descent of a long staircase and an adjustment to dim lights. Once your eyes adjust, you realize you have just discovered a well kept secret. The appeal of old brick walls and a full bar which forms a complete circle in the middle of Sandrini’s greets you. The faces of people seem to say; you have to be one of us, but welcome, if you love downtown, you already are. After a brief wait and a cold Guinness from tap (only a few in town) my wife and I are seated in a comfortably large round booth with a maroon table cloth colored to avoid pretension (or more likely to keep your eyes off of wine stains). Our waiter brings out warm soft-bread, olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette and takes drink orders promptly. I asked for a house Cab and was brought a pleasing J. Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon that had been given a chance to breathe. I usually order a house wine if the restaurant has a decent wine list, in hopes of economy and not being disappointed. The menu selection at Sandrini’s is diverse and intends to please. The menu is a blend of Italian and Basque with entrees including Muscovy Duck and Lamb but also standards such as New York Steak. The appetizers keep to a small list but it seems as if it is better to do simply a few things quite well. For an appetizer we ordered the Bruchetta Trio which Sandrini’s defines as: Crostini topped with: diced Roma tomato, basil & garlic. olive Tapanade, and sun-dried tomato pesto & herbed goat cheese. Post #1
Mondo Alexander 4-5-11 English 100 Dr. Schmoll Fabious Corner is a Soul Food based restaurant that lives up to the awards that have been won in the past. The most recent award that Fabious corner had won was in 2009 for being the best soul food restaurant in town. This award not only is given to the restaurant with the best soul food in town, but also to the restaurant that is unique in multiple ways. This soul food joint is hot and is guaranteed to have their customers leave with a nice full belly and a smile on their face. This hot spot welcomes all dress codes like casual attire, business attire, and t-shirt and gym shorts. You will see all types of individuals dining in this little heavenly place on earth. This restaurant is located on the corner of Chester and Chester St. The restaurants have a very appetizing menu that will leave a person licking every finger after they got done eating their meal. Fabious Corner focuses on traditional food that African Americans typically eat back south. Mr. Fab, the owner of Fabious Corner said “since I do not live in the south anymore, why not bring a little of the south to California.” Just walking in this little beautiful place, you will feel right at home. This restaurant has a nice cozy church feel to it. While looking around, I was able to see there were a lot of scriptures from the Holy Bible posted on the wall. This brought about a sense of security knowing that this place is affiliated with God. The service was good too; the employees were well mannered and respectful. I noticed that when workers were not cooking, they would be cleaning. They always stayed busy. Everything seem like it was a sense of urgency with them. The last thing they wanted the customers to do is to wait for a long time. I can assure you that the food took no more than 10 or 15 minutes. While I was there I was able to sample a few of the house dishes. I ate three different types of dinners. The first dinner was the chicken dinner ($15), then the hot link plate ($15), and last the rib dinner ($15). The best thing about these dinners was waiting for each plate. While I was waiting I was able to smell the aroma of all three dinners. There is nothing better than smelling sizzling fried chicken, cheesy macaroni and cheese, and steaming mixed vegetables. After the first dinner was cooked, my nose was invaded by the spicy smell of hot links, chili beans, and cornbread with a little butter rubbed on the top. The last dinner made me have an epiphany of how lucky I am to be African American. That dinner consisted of honey bar-b-que baby back ribs, potato salad or macaroni salad, black eyed peas, and a complementary side dish of peach cobbler. All three dinners were absolutely amazing. I have never eaten any soul food that also caused me to injure myself. That’s right, injure myself. The ribs were so tender that they were falling off the bone and this made me eat the ribs like there was no tomorrow. While I was eating I bit my finger. Biting my finger did not stop me. It just caused me to slow down and eat the rest of the food slowly and savor the taste. All the food was amazing. I was speechless and sleepy after the meal. There is no way possible a customer would leave the restaurant unhappy. What can I say about the hottest soul food joint in Bakersfield? There is really not anything bad I could say about this restaurant. Not only that the atmosphere of the restaurant was great, but the food and the service were too. This restaurant offers fine dining while offering relaxation. Instead of having to get all dressed up to go to an intricate restaurant, you can jump into some casual clothes and go down to Fabious Corner and still feel like you are at a fancy restaurant. I highly recommend people to try out this hot spot. I am sure you will not leave the restaurant disappointed.
The first impression I had was like I was entering a family member's home. The first thought that entered my mind after taking the first bite of J's fried chicken and waffles was, “I have to tell everyone about this food!” Andrew ordered the chicken and dumplings and after our first bites, we just looked at each other with pure amazement. The fried chicken is like a sea of flavor. It's cooked just right and has the perfect amount of pepper. As you bite into it, you can taste the juicy and moist goodness that the cook takes such pride in making. The waffle is completely distinguishable from any store bought waffle. It's mind-blowing once the syrup is poured onto it. I absolutely had to steal a bite from my boyfriend's entree. The chicken and dumplings was hearty and flavorful. Not to mention the BBQ chicken tacos! They had this sweet BBQ flavor, but with a spicy kick. The BBQ hot links even kicked that spicy kick! After every few bites, I had to wash it down with some sweet red kool-aid. There are two kinds of kool-aid that they serve, purple and red. Andrew ordered the purple and I ordered the red. The red is incredibly sweet and rich with flavor and is ideal for anybody who has a sweet tooth. I also had a sip of the purple kool-aid and it’s a bit more on the tart side, but still very tasty, nonetheless.
The entrees are served with the choice of two sides and a square of corn bread. It's a lot of food for a pretty decent price. The sides include either yams, mac and cheese, greens, fried cabbage, a waffle, black-eyed peas, dirty rice, corn bread, chili beans, or corn.
The yams are hands down the best yams I've ever tasted in my life. There is a plethora of brown sugar on it and it's surprisingly very complimentary to the yams. The mac and cheese was like regular mac and cheese, but times a thousand in terms of taste. It's so flavor-packed that I enjoyed savoring the cheddar cheese on the soft pasta shells. The greens are cauliflower and are exceptionally appetizing for those vegetable lovers. It's like biting into a vegetable soup, since they are so luscious and saturated with the liquids they are slowly cooked with. The dirty rice is a much more different side order, because it has a mixture of things put into it and it really looks as it sounds. Despite the fact that it looks as it sounds, it definitely defies any negative connotations that come with the word “dirty”. All of these tasty sides that I have tried make you wonder what isn't ridiculously flavorful and satisfying? The answer that I’ve concluded is simply nothing.
Matthew Correa Dr.Schmoll 4/8/11 Food Review Casa Manana is a Mexican food restaurant family owned and operated since 1964, located in Santa Maria, Ca. Voted best #1 Mexican food in the Santa Maria Sun for the past eight years, and voted best Mexican food in the Pulitzer Central Coast Peoples’ Choice newspaper. By knowing all the awards they had won, this made me want to go and try out the so called best Mexican food in Santa Maria. Pulling into the parking lot into Casa Manana there were many cars and the lot was full so we had to park in a dirt lot, note don’t bring your car there if you barely got a car wash, this should be worked on because the parking lot is to small and should be more space that’s not on dirt. Finally being parked, my friend and I walked into the restaurant and were greeted right away by a bus boy that quickly cleaned off a booth for us to sit at. Looking around waiting for our menus to get to us I could tell that nothing has changed in the furniture since opening in 60s. The décor is outdated springs on the booths were broken and the only thing that looked to be changed since first opening were the table cloths. There were numerous of paintings around that gave Casa Manana that Mexican feel and even a picture from the 50s when it was a CHP station, before it became Casa Manana, and also a swordfish hanging on the wall. The bus boy that quickly cleaned our table came back and was apologizing for having taken long giving us our menus. I had told him it was ok because he had also brought a bowl of chips and salsa along with the menus and he had looked like he had his hands full because the restaurant was busy and alive. Opening up the menu I had seen they had several dishes to choose from and I had no idea what I wanted. So I decided to ask one the customers what was good and they seemed very eager to tell me the wife said to get the shredded beef burrito and the husband had told me to go with the tacos. I had asked if they had been there before and they told me they had been going there since 1987, so I knew they had given good advice. By the time I had gotten done talking to them our waiter came and was ready to take our order I had gone with the advice of the married couple by getting a beef bean and rice burrito and also two tacos one with beef and the other with guacamole, my friend went along and got the steak fajitas. After ordering I noticed that the portion size of the chips and salsa were rather quite small. But the taste sure did make up for it and we were also told that chips and salsa were free and you get as many chips as you can eat or whenever the waiter has enough time to bring more to you. The salsa was delicious was not too mild or spicy. The chips were also good but some of them were stale and I had told waiter and he brought back another bowl that was freshly made. Eating the chips and salsa made me feel at home because the music they played and people talking made it feel like I was at my grandma’s house waiting on her delicious meal and talking to family. The timing of our meal was fast and at the perfect time because my appetite had suddenly showed up by the smell of the food I had ordered.
By the time we were finished eating, we simultaneously recalled that they had desserts. We figured if the food was that delicious, then the desserts must be as well. There's sweet potato pie, banana cookie pudding, sock-it-to-me cake, caramel cake, peach cobbler, lemon cake, and vanilla ice cream. We were both so stuffed that we almost considered not ordering dessert, but then the waitress came up to our table and asked us if we were finished, after replying yes, she said that she was going to bring us a surprise. She came back with a two little samples of—you would definitely have to find that out for yourself.
Every chance I get, I try to make the trip to J's Place to get a bite to eat. Andrew and I have talked about how we have always wanted to eat at a place where the people who work there know us by name because we eat there so often. After that first visit at J's Place, he asked me, “Can this be the place where they know us by name?” My answer was, “Absolutely.” You should most certainly make the trip as well. You never know, you may love the special surprise they serve you as well as the delectable entrees, appetizers, side orders, beverages, and desserts (just remember to tell them that this is your first time there for that special surprise).
Frugatti’s review After looking around for the best restaurant nearby, last night I went to a restaurant called Frugatti’s. It was a fancy Italian restaurant located at 600 Coffee Road. The restaurant’s outside design looked a lot like an old town house. The restaurant windows were tinted, so my friend and I could not see the inside decoration from the outside. When we entered, we knew it was going to be an expensive meal. There were only five customers in the restaurant at lunch time, which told us that the restaurant was either bad or expensive which it was expensive in our case. Every piece of decoration indicates that: the high ceilings, the tables, the kitchen, and the way waiters dressed and served. It was one of the fanciest Italian restaurants that I had ever been to. Waiters were dressed formally and would walk customers to their tables. The tables were made from thick dark wood and on the surface, they were designed with white and orange marbles squares. The restaurant’s atmosphere was amazing. The lights were set on a low level and there was an old classic Italian and English music playing. There was something unique about their kitchen oven. It was built with red bricks and designed in cylindrical way. When we looked over the menu there were a variety of dishes that have been created in the restaurant and most of their dishes were cooked by wood fair, which gave their dishes special taste. Though the restaurant has unique type of cooking, its rating could only be passed on the service and food quality. When we walked through the restaurant, the waiter welcomed us and walked us to our table. He quickly grabbed a couple of menus and placed them on our table. We started with drinks while we look through the menu for orders. The menu was written in very unique way. Since the restaurant has opened in 1990s the founder of the restaurant and his waif have created and made some changes to many of their dishes. Under every dish they had created or changed, they wrote brief story of the way they came up with it recipes. For example, Edna’s lasagna classic, which was my main course order, had been slightly changed from the typical lasagna. The restaurant founder stated that “My wife Anne, created the best lasagna you will ever have, Nonni and Papo mispronounced her name as “Edna”, which has become a family joke”, explaining the meaning behind the dish name. The way that the menu was written made me feel at home among people that I knew for long time. After looking through the menu, we decided to start with caser salad as an appetizer. It was freshly made salad with tendered sliced chicken and toasted bread dressed with parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and olive oil. It was placed in medium size bowl and there was a pincer for taking the salads from the bowl to your plate. Few minutes later, the waiter came up with the main courses. I ordered the Edna’s lasagna classic and my friend ordered the grilled chicken fettuccine. Honestly, I could not taste the deference between it and any other lasagna. The only thing that I could say is they prepared it very well. It was medium piece of lasagna, placed on egg-shaped plate, filled with heated cheese and meat sauce. It looked very delicious that I could not wait for it to cool down. Each bit tasted better than the previous one, but I felt full quickly because it was a little fatty. In conclusion, Fugetti’s is a qualified restaurant for anyone who would like to enjoy Italian food in Bakersfield. Though it is slightly expensive, the food was tasteful, the service and the atmosphere were amazing. If I would give it a rate, I would say it was seven out of ten.the design and the service was perfect. The only thing that wasn’t as expected is the food quality. It could not stand to the quality of service, piece, and the way the restaurant was designed.
I visited Chipotle Tejon Ranch restaurant, on April 5, 2011 around 6:00 pm. It’s located at 5602 Dennis McCarthy Dr Lebec, CA 93203. The restaurant food is something to get excited about because of the flavors. They serve the healthiest food around town and have a really friendly staff. As soon as you step through the entrance everyone welcomes you with a smile and a positive attitude. When you first enter the store and turn left you’ll see a wall full of unique art work which really captures your attention. So far this is the largest chipotle I have visited. During my visit I sampled the delicious chicken burrito ($8), which was great. They also offer salads, tacos, and bowls. My burrito contain cilantro lime rice, vegetarian black beans, grilled chicken, mild and hot sauce, sour cream and guacamole. Each ingredient on my burrito was fresh, which gave me the feeling of being outside with nature. The smell of all the meats made it hard to pick, which made it hard to pick since all of them were freshly made. The burrito was unique because it was personalized, it was made just the way I wanted it. The burrito was bigger than I thought it would have been, so it took me awhile to actually finish it, but it also meant more time to enjoy the beauty of the perfectly wrapped burrito. Every time I took a bite of the burrito the flavors got stronger and made my stomach feel butterflies inside. The avocado which was $1.80 extra was totally worth it. During my visit at chipotle I ran into my good friend Andrea who was eager to try chipotle for the first time in her life.Therefore, chipotle stole our hearts and, I recommend it for everyone traveling to the LA area or are simply passing by, to stop and eat chipotle. It’s the healthiest food in all the area and will make you feel like home. If you’re a parent don’t worry about getting your children a big burrito; they have four different types of delicious kid’s meal you may order. Your children will be eating healthy. Better than giving them a lot of junk food take them to chipotle for a healthy meal.
My boyfriend, Forrest and I are still getting used to our new neighborhood and the various restaurants. Down California Ave. I remembered one of the best pizza spots I went to after softball games when I was younger. We made our way down California, and turned into the shopping center. To my surprise there was no pizza place to be found, instead, “Flame and Skewers” Mediterranean food. We decided to switch gears from greasy pizza to Mediterranean, and headed in. Once we were inside, we realized there was a line to order up front. Forrest is not as open to ethnic foods, so he was more uncomfortable than I was, so I sent him to snag a table, and I was left to make the decisions as to what to order. One glance at the menu and I knew I had stepped into a whole new world. “Shawerma, tabbooleh, felefal,” all sounded like sounds I would make while sneezing. I decided to listen in to what others in line were saying. The word ‘Lamb” stood out. I knew that we both loved a good lamb. The ladies at the registers were young and did not seem of a Mediterranean heritage, nor did the cooks, however, I didn’t ask. I put an order in for two lamb platters. I was asked how I wanted the lamb prepared when I noticed these two, huge slabs of roasted, rotating meat. I asked her if the lamb was in chops, when the answer was yes, I knew to keep the temperature low, “Medium rare,” I answered. To my surprise I spent about 30 dollars for the two of us. The price was a bit much for me. I took the two cups, and proceeded to the soda fountain. I poured some sodas and watched in amazement as some customers helped themselves to what looked like pink French fries, stored at the drink station. I found Forrest and we had a look around. Most of the people were in jeans and a T-shirt. Some suits were in the room too. An upper-class area I assumed with the price and shiny cars parked outside. The maroon and gold decorations almost bring a sense of royalty, however, inviting at the same time. Small art pieces hang on the walls with Indian motifs. The two flat screens are turned to a perhaps a Mediterranean program that showcasing some important cultural aspects: music and soccer. The enchanting women singing on the screen really sets the authentic mood. We notice there are seats outside in the patio, but the weather was too hot for that day. Our number was called. Forrest returned with the tray and we took a deep breath. The black pieces of square lamb lay atop neon yellow rice. Grilled, soggy vegetables joined by hummus and a flatbread. The pre-dressed side salad looked appetizing. I took my knife to dig into the first bite of lamb. Although not so inviting at first layer, I could tell it was a nice cut of lamb. The lamb was very tender in the middle. I wrestled with a few pieces of fat; however, it was well worth the effort. Once I got over the color, I appreciated the perfectly cooked rice. It matched perfectly with the lamb. One bite into the grilled veggies and I was done with them. Each piece would soak my mouth with unpleasant grease that I was unprepared for. Unfortunately, the same effect came from the side salad. Perhaps the dressing could be on the side next time. I was very glad that the hummus and flatbread brought no worries. Altogether, the four pieces I enjoyed also worked very well together. I was surprised to see others eating French fries around us. Next time we can switch those out with the vegetables. Besides the two “healthy” sides I disagreed with, Flame and Skewers was actually impressive. Forrest wanted to return for those French fries, as did I. I would give this establishment a score of 3 out of 5 stars. I am excited to increase this rating in the future visits I have.
My wife has a smiling, mouthful excitement and her pointing at the Bruchetta was a positive review enticing me to try it. She is right. It’s very good although maybe a bit heavy on the basil after a few bites. Our waiter seems to take notice when customers are chatty personalities and others are not. In his social grace, I notice he doesn’t interrupt the local news caster who seems much too serious for such a light-hearted atmosphere. The waiter is keeping wine glasses full and seems to know half of the room by name or favorite drink. He takes our order and I settled on the Paella, described by the menu as : A version of the popular Basque classic features Manila clams, shrimp, sea scallops & sausage baked with white rice, red & green bell peppers, Spanish onion, Roma tomato, a blend of fresh herbs and spices with a splash of white wine.
The dish came sizzling on a cast iron skillet which kept the clams and shrimp from cooling. This presentation and its aroma blend the strong effect of anticipation. My wife’s order arrives, a Pan Seared Salmon, 8 oz. salmon filet dusted with flour & pan seared to perfection, finished with a sage brown butter sauce & served with a butternut squash succotash.
An elegant white plate arrives with salmon centered over the squash diminished only slightly by my wife’s inability to have a good wine with dinner that night.
I pick up my fork and notice a small detail in the silverware, feeling a roundness of the utensils that gives a special quality. Finally the taste; it is a welcomed dizziness of flavor. The peppers are a wonderful combination with the scallops and add a fullness to the taste. I love to find examples of excellence, those fine things I can never pull off myself. I tell my wife “ these onions aren’t soggy” and she knows what I mean, they are perfect, mine are soggy. I have a momentary regret, the clams are small but I forgive the West Coast for the diminishment want more. I offer one to Beth and her head shaking tells me I don’t have to share. “Can I have some salmon?” I ask with assumption, leaning foreward with my fork. “Wow, that’s better than mine.” The great appeal of Sandrini’s seems to be in the great ability to elevate a modest atmosphere to a casual refinement. I found the pricing to be very reasonable and in fact comparable to other restaurants of much lower quality. My wife and I have returned many times during the past few years to enjoy wine and food while deciding how to remodel our kitchen, if should we have a baby, and should we have another baby. Sandrini’s has become the place of many of our most revealing conversations and decisions. It’s where we will likely be found when the baby sitter is willing and my wife wants Chicken Piccata.
Juan Calderon Eng. 100 Restaurant review Frosty king: in Lamont California Frosty king is a place for family and friend’s On Sundays, my family and I usually go out to eat and try to get in some family time by having fun and forgetting about the week. We usually go to Frosty King located in Lamont where they have a variety of things to choose from, such as burgers, malts, and ice cream. They also have an arcade and a jukebox inside, so if you’re waiting for your order you have time go right ahead and play games to make the time fly by faster. This is a place for the family so the dress is casual. There is really never a long wait for the food, just five to ten minutes because they are very fast considering the amount of people they serve. The capacity in the room is for 50 people, so it may not be the biggest place, but it’s a great place to host small parties or a family get-together. Also, if you don’t like a big crowd, you can always eat outside of the restaurant, or you can get your food to go and eat at home. Ambiance The ambiance in Frosty King is calm and tranquil. It is very soothing, especially after a long week of school or work, making it the ideal place to come right after a long week and spend time with family. Frosty King is just something you have to experience for yourself. The experience is something that can’t be explained. It is a place to bond with your family and friends. The ambiance is part of what makes Frosty King such a special place. Over all, Frosty King is a very calm place because of its size. It is also tranquil because it is warm during the winter and cool in the summer. The Food There are a variety of burgers, which total fourteen different types. There is an endless combination of ice-cream, as well as malts. It just depends how you like your food and how you ask them to make it for you. The food is always great. I usually get a Hawaiian burger, which consists of lean ground beef, Italian salad dressing with a pint of pineapple juice, brown sugar and honey, followed by Swiss cheese and I like to add a little bacon every once in a while. Finally, I like the toasted hamburger buns and top it off with a drink and fries, at a very low cost of eight dollars. The burger is soft, smells delicious, and smells like bacon. When I wrap my hands around it and take a big bite, the taste just rushes through my mouth to create an amazing taste. Then, I take a drink of coke and get ready for the next bite. If the price doesn’t get you, the taste will. Just looking at it makes your mouth water. When you finally get your food, you just fall into its delicious flavors of complete awesomeness. Also, don’t forget--you have your fries and drink which makes this experience even better. I would completely recommend the Hawaiian burger to anybody as it is one of my favorite dishes at Frosty king. Service The service there is very good considering that sometimes it’s very crowded. However, you can always call ahead and ask if it is crowded. If it is, you can find a way to spend time elsewhere until the crowd thins out. Or, you can go to Frosty King when it isn’t so crowded. The perfect time to go is sometime between 10 a.m. and 12 a.m. Shortly after that, it gets a bit crowded and sometimes a little too crowded. Of course, you can always take your food out and eat it elsewhere. Over all - I would defiantly recommend this to all my friends and anybody passing by the Lamont area it’s a very nice place and the food is just awesome and also because it’s just a good place to spend time with the family and just talk and have fun with anyone and everyone. Location – 9201 Weedpatch Highway, Lamont, CA. Phone: (661) 845-2225. Price – The price ranges from as low as eight dollars to as much as fourteen dollars, depending on how hungry you are. The hamburger comes with French fries and a drink. Details –Open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
A restaurant review: The Stinking Rose Stink is a word defined by any dictionary as a strong foul odor, to be highly offensive, or even used as a slang for something that has bad quality; This is not the case here. Here it means tasty, delicious, and smells good. Thanks to the stinking rose, an Italian cuisine, that changed the meaning of stink. This restaurant opened first in San Francisco on Columbus Avenue by owner and executive chef Andrea Froncillo. The second branch is in Los Angeles Beverly Hills on north La Cienega boulevard which I visited with a couple of friends. The firs time I have heard of it from a friend a couple of questions emerged like – why is it stinking? And what is their secret? The answer to these questions is one word – Garlic. Yes garlic is the secret, so garlic lovers welcome to heaven!. When I arrived, me and my friends to the Beverly Hills branch we immediately realized that there is a problem with parking. The reason was because it is hard to park on the street, so the best way is to take advantage of their valet service which costs around 6 dollars. As soon as we entered we were captured by the huge a mount of celebrity photos ranging from Bob Hope to Michael Jackson. As we walked through the hall, workers welcomed us and asked about how many were of us having dinner. Then we waited for a couple of minutes as it was very crowded. Finally, our waiter showed up and took us to the dinning hall. The hall was magnificent, it was two sections. The first was normal booths, and the other was portrayed after a carnival tents colored in red and white. The whole hall was like a carnival, there was people laughing, talking, eating, and above all that was the clinking of plates and glasses. Moreover, we were seated and handed the menu. The menu as any other menu starts with the appetizers that include a variety of sea food. Such as, mussels, shrimps, and crabs marinated in of course garlic. It includes also a garlic soaking in a hot tub which basically cloves of garlic swimming in olive oil and butter. The prices for them ranges between 9$ for small plates to 39$ for large plates or combos. There is also pizzas included under the appetizers with one size only for 10$. In addition, they offer salads for the price of 10$ with the option of adding chicken or shrimp for 4$. Moving on to the main dishes, it offers pastas, steaks, favorites, and sea foods with the price ranges of 16-25$, 30-45$, 15-22$, and 20-25$ respectively. At the end of the menu there was the drink including sodas, lemonade, and wines. While we were reading the menu we enjoyed eating pieces of Italian bread with a plate of olive oil to dip them in.
After we checked the menu and we decided to order a combo of shrimps, mussels, and crabs for a starter; for the main dishes filet mignon steak, fettuccini Alfred pasta, and a garlic filet mignon pizza were our choices. For a drink we ordered a bottle of red wine. Furthermore, we waited no longer than two minutes for the drinks to arrive, and an additional three minutes for the starters. Until that time the service was on time and it continues to be timely perfect. As soon as we were done from the appetizers the main dishes arrive. I talked a lot about the menu and the prices and now to the most important – how does it taste?. We were afraid the garlic will kill the taste of the food if there was lots of it, but it appears that the chef has done a good job of balancing the amount of it in every dish. The steak tasted like some one holding a piece of meat in one hand and on the other is a clove of well cooked garlic. This goes for every dish. However, I recommend not kissing your girlfriend until after chewing a gum or brushing your teeth. Moreover, we were handed the dessert menu which includes ice creams, teramisus, and sundaes until my eyes fell on something called Gilroy’s famous garlic ice cream and yes it is ice cream with garlic and you can also add caramel!. How does it taste? Well, it tasted unexpectedly good, unusual, confusing, and it actually tasted like an ice-cream. All in all the food, ambiance, and service adds up to build a great restaurant. The prices are quite expensive but for what you get is convenience. The restaurant is one of the nicest places I have ever visited, and to show how nice is it they offer garlic- free “Vampire Fare” for people who do not like garlic.
*The Rating: Too Stinky. (This rating system is exclusive for the stinking rose) *Too Stinky=Out Standing, Stinky= Excellent, Not Stinky Enough= Good, Not Stinky At All= Poor.
The Food: On a good note, the dining adventure begins with a passion for great food, infused with internationally inspired, intriguing flavors, freshness and quality ingredients and the flair of wood-fired and wok cooking styles. The Elephant Bar has been by far one of the best choices and I’d highly recommend this restaurant to my friends and family. The menu is very diverse so there is something for everyone to choose from. The only bad thing about having such a diverse variety of food is that it makes it difficult to choose just one thing! I ordered a few succulent appetizers consisting of Wok Fire Chicken and Lettuce Wraps and their famous Artichoke Dip. For our main course Roy and I both enjoyed a bowl of Pan Asian Vegetable and Noodle Soup, some juicy, moist, mouth watering Sautéed Chicken Marsala and Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Skewers. I had to step outside of my box and try one of the most amazing dishes ever; Crispy Honey Orange Shrimp. I had a nice, cold, refreshing drink to wash it all down; the Kona Kooler with Red Bull. The Service: The service at the Elephant Bar has always been great. It tends to get pretty crowded, especially on weekends. I would make a plan to go early or inquire about reservations for reserved seating. Once people arrive, the host or hostess will give out a pager for notification of when the table is ready. People can also sit in the bar, which is very nice and is definitely a great place to socialize. The staff at the restaurant is always friendly and the food is served in a timely manner. The food is always hot, fresh and I have never had any problems at this restaurant. The Pricing: Prices for Elephant Bar is pretty reasonable. Happy Hour items are usually at a half off price and appetizers run anywhere from $7-11. Drinks are anywhere from $2-12. Main courses range from $7-22. “People are the key to delivering the Elephant Bar’s preferred dining experience through warm, friendly and attentive service…they go to great lengths to make the dining experience unique and memorable; fulfilling special requests with a "Yes We Can" attitude.” -David Nancarrow. Again, I would recommend this fine establishment to my friends, family, and co-workers. What do you say? Let’s go have a drink and enjoy some exotically inspired food.
I was now ready to chow down so I grabbed the burrito and took a bite and it was good the taste of the shredded beef was perfect it was juicy had the perfect texture not to chewy or tough and tasted freshly made. Next was the guacamole taco which didn’t disappoint the guacamole was good tasted fresh and along with the taco shell it made it even better, it reminded me of the beach eating chips and guacamole right by the ocean water. After eating the taco and burrito I was already stuffed but I still had to eat the shredded beef taco. The taco hit the spot the shredded beef was excellent and I was ready to go to sleep. I got to sample my friends’ steak fajita and that was excellent too now next time I know I should try the fajitas too. Never had I been that stuffed before and was satisfied. I had to sit there awhile because I couldn’t move. Our waiter handed us the bill and it was time to pay. The pricing of the food wasn’t too bad the food was worth the price. My burrito and two tacos came out to a price of ten dollars and my friend’s steak fajitas came out to eleven dollars our drinks were one dollar each, so total we paid twenty three dollar plus the tip. One thing I should warn you Casa Manana only takes cash or local checks they don’t take debit or credit which is a downside so be prepared. Casa Manana tries keeping the Mexican tradition but were not too authentic, can’t complain though only time you’re going to eat real tradition Mexican food is either at a grandparents house or in Mexico. I would go back a next time to Casa Manana when I’m down in Santa Maria. The restaurant can be recommended to those who are looking for a good Mexican restaurant. Don’t forget bring cash, parking space is small so be prepared to park in the dirt if its busy, Casa Manana is not the biggest of restaurants, and most importantly bring your appetite.
@Rich4309: I really liked your review. I enjoy Chipotle's food and was actually thinking about eating there after this class. I particularly liked the phrases you used as well as the alliteration. The last sentence made me laugh. "Great job!" :P
Moving to Bakersfield from San Diego was a big difference for me in the food culture (considering that I was born and raised there and rarely ever left). While living in San Diego my girlfriend and I had eaten at many restaurants, selecting few for our favorite foods. During my time of freshman year in college I have potentially found another amazing restaurant to add onto the list of my few favorites. The food was not the only thing that made my experiences with this upbeat restaurant a time to remember, the customer service was excellent and the prices were fair. Grading on a basic scale from one to ten, (ten being my favorite restaurant) I am going bold and giving the Logan’s Roadhouse on California Avenue a nine.
If looking for a calm quiet environment, I would suggest not even pulling into the parking lot. When walking into this place the energy and tempo in the restaurant can change the mood of a bad day within minutes. Walking inside all different types of noises and sounds are coming from every direction. As the hostess walked us to the table I remember hearing and feeling what sounded to be snail shells underneath my shoes happened to be peanut shells all over the floor. As we sat into the booth we arrived to find a full pail of peanuts that are for the customers to open, eat and just toss the shells on the ground. Music was playing at a noticeable enough sound level along with the flat screen televisions and the others people around us.
I found myself to be very impressed by the services at the restaurant. During the three times I visited Logan’s Roadhouse I was lucky enough to see how each night was a different experience. Two of the times that my girlfriend and I went there we happened to have the same waitress, and both of the times going the situations she was handed were completely reversed. The first time she served us the restaurant was packed full of people every table occupied by hungry families and friends, due a wrestling tournament that was in town and all the wrestlers stayed in a nearby hotel. When the restaurant seemed to be at the busiest of the night the waitress seemed to be running around the restaurant like a chicken with its head cut off when in reality she was taking the orders of every new group of hungry humans walking in and randomly carrying out arm loads of food. I was really struck by how well she worked under pressure. The second night with the waitress was a much slower night in the restaurant but she caught me off guard again because she recognized we were there that busy night and remembered the table we sat at. At this point I felt that I needed to possibly switch up on a waitress and I was not nearly disappointed.
Me being a pretty precise carnivore that I am, I had no complaints about any of the meats I had the chance to try. From appetizers to desserts I was very pleased with everything that I tasted. Set aside from the peanuts they bring complimentary bread rolls, although the rolls are sweat freshly baked with butter they are deceiving to the stomach when finally eating the main course. For appetizers I was lucky to try some buffalo wings that will bring me back to eat a full plate of, and some bacon potato soup that was surprisingly exquisite. The three main course, I tried were; country-fried steak with mash potatoes and country gravy, BBQ ribs, and a filet mignon. Each time I ate dinner there I was not disappointed. I would go without eating all day just so I can leave full with a possibility of great leftovers.
hey maria i really liked your restaurant review of chipotle because although i've only been there once i got to admit that those burritos are delicious. i love the fact that anything you eat you know its going to be made to your customization. this is a great idea that chipotle does this because there is many people who will not eat at fast food places because they have a specific and rigid diet they must follow. however, chipotle allows those people to choose what they will eat and keep their diets intact.
Omar, this is very surprising to hear because we do usually hear people bad mouth the dining commons. I would like to go and taste a piece of pizza for myself and see if I experience the same delicious taste you did.
I read Maria's review of Chipotle Tejon Ranch. This review was great because she was specific as to everything that was put into her meal. She gave us a price which was comfortable to hear. Although I have been to one before, she made me want to visit this one.
I also read Ramondo's review of Fabious Corner. All the descriptions are very compelling. Because we are big on home cooking and BBQ, I am going to take my boyfriend right away.
Matthew!!! Not fair man, everyone is talking/reading about food and your going to start talking about Mexican food??? I am suprised no one heard my stomach growel yet.
Rachel said... J's fried chicken and waffles - I've got to find this place. Made me remember living in Virginia. Everyone had their favorite chicken stand and you would drive an hour out of the way on the weekend if ya had to.
@ Juan The review was great on how the ambiance is alwasy crowded, and how the service is quick to give the orders. I got to say Frosty King is the best place to eat a burger making me want to go today and get a King Burger or a Texas Cheeseburger which are also good there.
hey edgar i like your review eventhough im not so sure about wanting to eat vietnamese food. i have a sense that its not all that good....but since you describe it so good i think i might go try it sometime when i become tired of the ordinary pizza and burgers. so yeah that's a good restaurant review.
@Rachel: Your restaurant review is good and interesting because I have never heard of J's place restaurant and basic on your review, sound like that place is good for me to go there one day and makes me want to try some of the good food that you talk about.
@maria: Your restaurant review interesting because Chipotle Tejon Ranch sound good to try and base on your review, it sounds like the food that you talk about is good to eat.
Guadalupe, Your review on that "Juicy Burger" joint was really good. I liked the descriptive language use to describe the burgers and the ambiance of the restaurant. You got me sitting at the computer screen daydreaming about the burgers my big mama(grandma) made at our family pinics. Man o man. Now i got to get a burger after class lol.
I want to try Juicy Burger too cause i hate when i a order is placed and you tell them more than twice that you dont want pickles or mayo and at the end they still add those ingridients.
Shannon De Marah Dr. Schmoll Engl. 100 4 Apr 11 Restaurant Review Elephant Bar American, Western, and Pan Pacific Foods The Atmosphere/Experience: There’s a new business in town. Well, it’s not a new business to me because Elephant Bar is everywhere in the bay area, but for Bakersfield it adds new flavor to this city. The building is eye catching with bright, red letters displaying its name from the outside. The faintness of the blue hue as I drive by eludes me, drawing me to its mystifying atmosphere. It was well worth the wait of having ever driven by and saying to myself, I’m going to eat here soon. The day is finally here that I get to enjoy such an enticing restaurant. The mystery is no longer a mystery, but an exotic experience. I first tried Elephant Bar in Atlanta, Georgia. I was quickly drawn to their motto, “The idea was simple; provide a comfortable and unique place to escape from the stress of everyday life, to relax and enjoy a fun, casual dining experience.” -David Nancarrow. And it’s all that and more. I have a pretty hectic work and school schedule; balancing meetings, returning a swarm of student emails, squeezing in time for my homework, and finally a social life. This was a perfect escape of reality; transforming into a mystifying realm of exotic and jungle like energy. I invited my good friend Roy to enjoy a pleasantly serene dinner. We are always together whether it is at school or at a social event so I thought it was the perfect night to escape both of our hectic lives. The ambiance and decor is very nice and allows for a very relaxing atmosphere. From the moment Roy and I enter the door, we are treated to a broad array of alluring exotic drinks and enticing foods... adventures in themselves. The exotic appeal of the interior decor creates a comfortable and enjoyable dining experience. When you enter the Elephant Bar you will immediately notice the pleasurable theme of the restaurant. It is decorated in a jungle oriented theme. A large rock is carved into the shape of an elephant behind the hostess station, it is dimly lit and with a blue hue that surrounds the bar; there is a mixture of tables and booths (mostly booths and sadly sort of packed in like sardines.) The tables and booths are situated so close together that there is no room for privacy or the lack of having a private conversation. It makes me feel like I’m actually sitting in the laps of the other guests; definitely something I do not appreciate. I expected the restaurant to have a third place environment and not be so thunderous like with the roar of constant chatter. I’ve noticed that if the timing is right the atmosphere can be really satisfying. Happy hour is a great time to have that satisfying experience. If chosen the latter part of the day, one could possibly wait twenty to forty five minutes to eat and enjoy social activity.
Arriving at Don Perico’s authentic Mexican restaurant and soaking in the atmosphere made me feel like I was in a small Mexican village. The casual attire was welcoming, even though it consisted of a variety of cultures. The walls were painted to look like an aged adobe building. Murals on the wall depicted Mexican art such as landscapes in Mexico and aged pottery. There were banners advertising some of the available cervezas and fake parrots that added to the ambiance. The smell of sizzling fajitas someone had just ordered, which passed right by us on a flaming hot skillet, was enough to make my mouth water. My partner and I were seated almost immediately in a booth and our drink orders were taken. We both choose iced tea and our refreshments were brought promptly along with hot tortilla chips and fresh salsa. With a dash of salt on the chips they were great by themselves but were paired perfectly with the chunky salsa. The salsa was great with the exploding flavor of the onions, tomato and cilantro. My partner was satisfied with the salsa just as it was prepared but I thought it could use a bit more heat just to kick it up a notch. We decided to forego the list of appetizers which included everything from nachos ($7.75) to chicken wings ($7.50) and instead got our fill of delicious chips and salsa. The menu was filled with many appetizing entrees ranging from Carne Asada ($12.75) to Octopus ($11.95). Some items I did not recognize but the ingredients sounded enticing. Although I was tempted by many of the options, including the many seafood items such as Empanizado (Red Snapper / $11.95, I could not forget that blast of sensory experience of when I first entered. Therefore, I ordered the Mixed Fajita Platter ($11.95) which included chicken and steak. I made sure to get a side salad with homemade ranch dressing just before my entrée arrived.
My partner ordered the Banderillas ($11.95), which consisted of marinated pieces of skewered chicken with onions, bell peppers and mushrooms sautéed in butter and a white wine sauce with beans and rice to complement it. By ordering the Banderillas she was straying from her normal order of Suizas Enchiladas but she ultimately decided to try something new. After glancing at what others from different tables had ordered I began to have second thoughts but was still confident in my decision. The salads had arrived promptly and they were basically iceberg lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, olives, cheese and homemade ranch dressing. It was tasty but nothing to write home about. This plate was just making me more anxious for that sizzling, popping and smoking meal I had ordered. While we waited on our main meals we sat and enjoyed the Mexican music and continued to nibble on our chips and salsa. The server was very attentive and refilled our drinks and supplied more fresh chips and salsa. At this point I decided to use the restroom which was located off to the side and was quite clean with a fresh scent. On my way back to the table I peeked into the cantina, which looked like a nice bar to enjoy some drink specials, such as Margaritas, and to take in a nice sporting event on television. Not long after returning to the table, before actually seeing the server, I heard that distinguishing sound of flaming hot fajitas. Soon there it was in front of me on an iron stand, cautioned by the kind server “careful very hot senor”. He said the same of my partner’s plate. The fajitas, garnished with onions, bell peppers, cilantro and a lemon wedge, was complimented with a plate of rice and refried beans, sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo. I cannot forget the flour tortillas, hot and fresh, to wrap it all together to form my own killer form of burrito. With the meat and peppers still simmering I took the lemon wedge and squeezed the juice over the meat to give it a bit of zest. My partner was already digging into her plate of Banderillas, which she was very satisfied with. I got to sample a taste of her plate and I found them quite similar to fajitas but with a special addition of mushrooms, which I especially enjoyed. The presentation was very uniform as if they carefully glided the meat off the skewer over a bed of rice and mushrooms. Overall, we had a superb dining experience at an affordable cost. The food was delicious, the server was attentive and the atmosphere was inviting. If I were to rate Don Perico’s on a ten-point scale I would give it an eight considering the overall service, quality of food and atmosphere. I would definitely recommend Don Perico’s as a place to enjoy a tasty Mexican dining experience.
I think in n out is really cool because they have a simple menu yet they also have a secret menu you can find online. For example, you can order burgers or fries "animal style" which is cool. Check it out.
CSUB Dining Commons
ReplyDeleteAll you can eat deal with all of your favorite dishes that you know and love.
By: Luis Omar Arevalo
The Time in the Commons April 3, 2011
Sometimes a student wants decent food that he or she can get in a break from college like homework, taking notes, coming to class every day, doing class works, etc. Yet many students don’t have the time to sit down and have a good meal to have when they are hungry. Sometime they don’t have time to eat before and/or after class due to homework assignment from single or multiple classes that have been assigned. So what the school did is they created the place called dining Commons that is suitable for the people who are living in the dorm; overall, it’s for the students who are living far and living on-campus.
CSUB Dining Common is a place where students come, too be with their friends, be away from school work and eat their favorite meal right by their dorms; it is also welcome to other students who are living in Bakersfield. Students dig into some homemade meals, to salad bars, to make it yourself sandwich, and of course everyone’s favorite food pizza. Everyone has the free will to choose his or her food to create their own meal that’s in the Common.
When I first went to the Commons during my stay in the Fall Quarter the tables were good. They got new tables in the mid January. The chairs look like school chairs except their mint to be to sit down in the dining common. CSUB dorm students must use a CSUB ID card in order to use their meal plan and dining dollars without paying real money except for the people who are not living on-campus. Each and every day, Chef Matt Corbett cooks the best food and sets them in food meals that is good tasting, and healthy. The Common is part of the housing office along with the student mailbox.
Pizza, the number one food in the Dining Commons
Usually the commons serves pizza almost every day and the first food that you see before getting anything else in the food Sevier area. The pizza is good dish to start with, for me at least. Though it’s not the pizza like Domino, Little Caesars, Pizza Hut, or any pizza company that we had to order to your house, but it is a homemade pizza that you can eat in the dining commons so that way you won’t have to spend 10 to 20 bucks on a pizza that a person has to order from a random pizza place to your dorm and I don’t want to that in my future years living in the dorm. The pizza smells good, it taste good and it feels up your stomach fast depending how much you get. I usually start with two slices of pepperoni pizza.
I hear rumors about the pizza from different students that are living in the dorm. They said that the pizza taste crap and that it’s not good as the other pizzas, it’s to grease to eat, or they just want to eat other food rather than the pizza, but I disagree. The pizza comes with the toppings of pepperoni, bacon, ham, sausage, or whatever it is the chef can put in the pizza’s menu on an everyday meal and also how it looks to have students eat it.
It depends on the chef that is making the pizza good, how good did the pizza come out, and how many pizzas that the people are from the dorm are going to eat them. Overall, the pizza is a good start to have in my everyday apatite because I love pizza, it taste good, it smells good, looks good to eat, and I feel joy while eating a pizza.
Guadalupe Perez
ReplyDeleteDr. Schmoll
English 100
Build It
Soccer moms in every direction counting how many kids are in line waiting to build their own burger. Colorful jerseys everywhere; however, this is not including the custumers that are there just to have lunch. Juicy Burger, on 24th Street on a Saturday afternoon is as busy as a sports bar during football season. Their service is quick and very efficient in the sense that everyone creates their own burger. I believe this is why many parents bring their children to Juicy burger because the parent doesn’t have to worry about what they will put in their child’s burger and the child will not like it. The child gets too choose the dressings, cheese, and the burger they would like. Their specific way of ordering at Juicy Burger brings a quite fascinating crowd to the restaurant. Their way of ordering makes it beneficial to everyone and not just children.
As I Walk up to order my burger, they had everything in six steps of what I wanted in my burger. This was very interesting because how often do people to go to a restaurant and say exactly what they would like on their burger. The steps went like this choosing the burger, bun, toppings, premium toppings, cheese, and finally the sauces. The pricing was very reasonable, especially since you get to choose from so many delicious ingredients. Juicy Burger brought back memories of pool parties and beautiful days out in the park. It brought back these memories because the only other time I remember building my own burger is when I was at a family barbeques and all the ingredients are out for everyone to prepare their own burger. The ingredients are not just your typical mayo, ketchup, and bacon. Juicy Burger has exotic and special sauces as well as premium toppings that include Ortega chili, grilled pineapples, cilantro mayonnaise, Tabasco ketchup and a few more. As I was waiting for my burger to be ready, I noticed that the soda machine was in a very unusual place. Soda machines are typically next to your napkins and utensil somewhere away from causing chaos, but at the Juicy Burger the soda machines were located on the right side in a corner from where you order. As people waited in line to order you can see people trying to get something to drink all in the same area which caused all the chaos to be in the front of the restaurant.
People were very polite and Juicy Burger has a great atmosphere, when I looked around people were enjoying their burgers while they laughed and conversed. Juicy Burger isn’t a McDonalds’s sized restaurant; on the other hand it’s the bitty burger spot that people attend to enjoy their food with pleasure. Juicy Burger would not be a restaurant where office CEO’s would have a business meeting, but it would be a restaurant where your able to take your kids and be able to speak at a normal tone of voice. I received my order and I was as excited as a kid when they see candy. I opened my burger from the paper wrap and the freshly cooked meat smelled fabulous, straight from the grill. My mouth watered just by looking at how incredibly delicious my burger looked. I could see the pepper jack melted cheese oozing down the meat patty. I couldn’t wait any longer I had to take my first bite and I felt like I was in heaven. I was truly amazed of how wonderful and tasty my burger was. I could see how the people that attend Juicy Burger look so happy while they’re there. The food is phenomenal and makes an individual ecstatic. My burger was everything I was hoping it to be I had and extravagant experience at the Juicy Burger I do have to admit I was not expecting to have the experience I did. I thought it would be like any other burger place. I can say that the Juicy Burger has been one of my best restaurant experiences. Even though there were so many people in a not very spacious location, everything came together in its own way. The costumer service and the people who were there to eat were great. I felt like I was in the happiest place on earth.
Checkers Restaurant Review
ReplyDeleteCheckers a little bit past the corner of Calloway Drive and Seabeck Ave has food that will make you go back for more. When you make a left and enter the parking lot to Checkers, you will notice a bunch of parking. That is an amazing plus. The small center where Checkers is located has been remodeled. It seems as if it’s the only building with a running business. Next to Checkers, there is a Frederico Career College. Most of the business around it look either abandoned or never been open before. Checkers is very convenient and offers two drive thru lanes and about 5 round tables with umbrellas for outside seating. If you ever been to Checkers you would know that not many location offer inside seating. Interesting fact, many people also know Checkers as Rally’s. They were both founded separately, but soon tagged teamed to make and amazing late 80’s themed restaurant.
The part I love the most, is that from the order window, I can see the workers make my burger. I can tell they take their time and make to make it amazing. I ordered a Bacon Chop House burger with large fries and a regular drink. The burger is made up of two buns, a steamy fresh out of the girl patty, lettuce, Thousand Island dressing, bacon, and fries. Yes fries. Unlike McDonalds nasty poorly made burgers, this Bacon Chop House looks a lot like the advertised picture. My first bite of the burger made me happy because I was no longer hungry. All these different flavors dancing around your mouth are gratifying. The bacon feels so soft and chewable. Not as if they cooked it too long. Biggest pet peeve is when the bacon is too hard. The cheese was not completely melted which is delicious. The patty is the perfect seasoned; not too much and not too little. The best part is that it’s not a messy burger.
The famous Checkers fries. They were hot, crispy, yet soft inside and amazingly seasoned. You know how every other fast food restaurants fries are simple and golden? Well the thing that makes these fries stand out is its peppery taste. I don’t think I have ever gotten a small fry in my order. The fries are pretty tall, darkish, and you can see the pepper seasoning. Checkers is very lenient when they add the pepper season. That’s truly what makes them different than another fast food French Fries. Another amazing part of these fries is that they are always crunchy. They don’t get soggy like most fries. The only down side of the fries is the price. A large order averages about $2.39 and a small order about $1. 39. They don’t only offer regular fries you can also order fully loaded fries, Bacon Cheddar fries, Bacon Ranch Fries, and good old Chili Cheese Fries. The fully loaded fries are a combination of fries, melted cheddar cheese, ranch and bacon pieces. The Bacon Cheddar fries and Bacon Ranch Fries are what their name says they have.
As mentioned before, most rally locations do not offer inside seating. But if you’re lucky enough you can find a location with outdoor seating, which is still good. Checkers doesn’t only offer burgers. They also offer chicken strips, hot dogs, and wings. They have 5 different flavors of wings, Medium Buffalo, Honey BBQ, Asian Kick, Angry Buffalo, and Garlic Parmesan. Their wings are always fresh. I have only tried the Medium Buffalo, personally they were spicy. But this is coming from someone who rarely eats spicy food
The overall appearance of the restaurant is welcoming. The staff is very nice and tries to connect with their customers. The cashier who attended me was very friendly. The cleanliness of the restaurant gets an A+. The wait for your food is fairly reasonable considering that they don’t make your order until you order it. For me that’s an important quality. Why would you want to go to a restaurant where the food was made 4 hours ago? In all, I enjoyed my visit to Checkers. Next time you are on a food run, I suggest you check out this amazing restaurant; if you want a great service, great food, and especially a great experience.
The food station, the variety for you to choose from and how it taste
ReplyDeleteAfter getting pizza on my plate I head to the next station of the food area, which they have a variety food to have like chicken, ham, rice, fish, corn, etc. It also depends on the chief on what he is going to put on the menu for each different day. So far I like most of the food on the meal that the Common puts on the menu for lunch and dinner for use to have something in our stomach. Therefore, the food they served use is sometimes good and sometimes bad.
I noticed that some of the foods that I ate for the past two quarters are a bit odd. One time I ate a fish that was removed from the pound right next to the dining commons and the dorm area and it had no flavor what so ever. It tasted like there was no kick to it and it just tasted like garbage. The other time that I had was a mix of rice, chicken, and beef from the random food service it tasted dried, it looked like it was a vomit from a baby, and it did not have that kick that you can feel. Sometimes the service from the food menu will give you a crappy food; however, at less some of them are not as bad as the other food that I have eaten.
The ones I liked are chicken nuggets, flavored chicken, hamburger, turkey burger, or basically any food that is interesting and of course delicious. I usually eat the food that I see, and ate before I take it and eat it as a meal. Right next to the random food service there is the burger station and the sandwich station. The burger stations have mostly hamburgers, and sometimes turkey burger, and veggie burger. They also have different kinds of burger buns and cheese. I usually get the turkey because it looks like a chicken burger when it’s cooked, and it taste so juicy and good. The sandwich station I don’t usually get in my meal because I like the sandwiches that I made in the house, but I do this in my dorm now.
The flavors on the foods that I get are good, but some are just too dry or don’t have flavor at all. What the chief needs to do is put some good flavor into the food that they are going to give out to the students. Therefore, the students can enjoy their food rather than to complain in a secret way. I personally enjoy the common because I made friend from there and I can eat the food that I know.
Now in the spring quarter I hardly go to the commons due to my class schedule, but I go there the dining common when I have time, or just go there on the weekend.
Rating: 10
Location: At the Dome area
Ambience: The Dining Common is big, but not that big. When I pass to the casher to my left is the tables that the students have their meal and also there are two soda machines before sitting down to the table area. And to my right is the food area where you can eat most of of your favorite dishes that you know and love including the salad bar.
Service: Friendly and helpful
Price: Lunch: $7.50 on Monday-Friday, Brunch: same as the lunch price except it’s on Saturday and Sunday, Dinner $9.00 for Sunday-Saturday.
Details: This is basically a common for the people who are living on-campus. It opens Monday-Friday from 11:00 am – 1:30 pm for lunch and from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm for dinner; it also opens on the weekend Saturday–Sunday from 10:30 am-12:30 pm for brunch and from 5:00 pm- 6:30 pm for dinner. The people who are living in the dorm will get a Meal Plan Options; it gives out the number of “all-you-care-to-eat meals” number (depending on what meal plan you going to have) along with Dining Dollars not only at the commons, but also at other campus restaurants like Runner Cafe, Peet’s Coffee, Wahoo’s, and coming soon to CSUB: The Roost.
Richard Gomez
ReplyDeleteIf you are facing east while standing in front of the In-n-Out Burger on Stockdale Hwy, you are bound to see one of the most extraordinary restaurants in the twenty-first century. Chipotle Mexican Grill has been around since 1993, that is when CEO Steve Ells opened the first Chipotle Mexican Grill in Denver, Colorado.Chipotle is known for its famously big burritos; when the company first opened all that was served was burritos then came tacos then the burrito bowls, which is everything in a burrito without the tortilla.
Driving east down Stockdale Hwy you are most likely going to get suck in traffic. When you pass New Stine Road get ready to make a left on Village Lane. When that’s complete, make your first right and find a parking. The Chipotle Mexican Grill parking tends to be packed, but you are always guaranteed to find at least one parking space. The kind of cars you see will vary from $100 cars to $100,000 cars, meaning there are people with different types of income that go and eat there. As you get off your vehicle and walk on in you shall notice happy customers outside, stuffing their faces, laughing, and sharing conversations. While entering you will also notice the beautiful landscape, and the hard work it took making the landscape.
As soon as you enter, you will come across people in a single file line. Those people are there for the same reason you are, that is to fill your stomach up with one of the famously delicious burrito bowls. After realizing how long the line is, one starts to think, is this burrito bowl really worth it, then reality hits and says, “O yes it is.” As your in the humongous line, you start thinking about how your whole life is flying by in just a blink of an eye. You start to think about how you were so mean to girls back in grade school, you even think about how you and your best friend in high school stole your Spanish teachers car because he left the keys in it, but returned it before anybody could notice. Just as your about to start thinking about how your mother would tell you stories of her high school days, when she listened to Spring Love by Stevie B. while driving down Chester Ave. with your father, the lovely, hardworking women behind the counter interrupts your thinking and asks you, “What would you like.” You then stare at the menu, already knowing what your going to say, you just have to look at it one more time hoping something different may have changed on the menu. After 5 minutes you then reply with “a steak bowl, please.” The patient worker then asks what type of beans would you like? Pinto please. After the white rice is put in the bowl, the Pinto beans are placed in a nice orderly fashioned way. Then comes the steak. While the worker is scooping up the steak to put on to the bowl, you indeed need to ask for double steak, because I believe the company trains the workers to put barely enough steak. Following the steak, the workers then ask what type of hot sauce would you like. This is where you get creative and get to pick between four different hot sauces. Usually, the red one is the one to choose. The Chipotle server then ask, what would you like on top of the bowl? You get to pick from corn, cheese, sour cream, tomato, guacamole, and lettuce. I pick everything except sour cream, tomato, and guacamole. At the end of picking out what you want on your bowl, the cashier then asks you would you like anything else. Yes, can I get a water bottle and a bag of chips. Along with paying, leaving a tip really comes in handy. It seem as if all the workers let each other know who tips and who does not, because the next time you come in the Chipotle servers will treat you as if you are their royal emperor.
The best part of the whole trip is about to come. Just after paying, finding a seat is next. Finding a table should not be difficult because most of the people that pass through Chipotle Mexican Grill tend to get their orders to go. As you sit down in the comfortable seat, you tend to notice how every one around you is focusing on their plate and eating as if the world was about to end. Instead of eating the steak burrito bowl with a spoon like most others do, try eating it with the chips you have ordered. The first bite of the burrito bowl will taste as if the almighty creator himself made the bowl just for you. When the second bites comes around you will taste the fresh corn and tasty lettuce. As you keep on eating, you then taste the richness of the steak. The steak taste as if the cow volunteered to sacrifice its life, just so that you can have the euphoria experience of tasting the marvelous piece of steak.
ReplyDeleteAfter all is done, washing the food down with a cold bottled water of water that comes from an area you do not see on a day to day basis, has to be the best part of the entire meal. Once you get up to toss your trash away and start to head back to your car, you then realize how praiseworthy the food really was. So you head back to the cashier and leave a $20 tip and explain to them how you have never had a well tasty meal like that in years. The cashier simply says, “No problem, it’s our job.” You then leave the restaurant happier than a suicide bomber whose bomb did not defuse.
One the corner of New Stine and Ming Avenue in Bakersfield, California, is a waffle house that serves Southern style cooking and goes by the name of J's Place. Its niche in the community is to simply welcome everyone with open arms and deliver consistently delectable home cooking.
ReplyDeleteI began to wonder why I had never heard of this place before, and yet there were so many great reviews about their food and service. I soon discovered that J's Place customers are typically brought in by word of mouth. I, on the other hand, discovered it by searching “good places to eat in Bakersfield” on Google.com. As soon as I saw J's Place was among them, my boyfriend Andrew and I rushed over there, both of us terribly hungry. Andrew is a slender, tall white boy who eats like he has four stomachs. I’m tall and slender as well, and I have about the same appetite as Andrew. This is a partly why we get along so well.
Upon entering J's Place, you are greeted by either a waiter or waitress with a dynamic personality and gusto. The walls are covered with paintings of people playing jazz music and jazz is even playing in the background. There are usually big families sitting down, with casual clothing, business suits, or jogging wear, enjoying their food and mouth-watering kool-aid while occasionally engaging in conversations with people from across the room. A wooden decoration of the word “faith” is near the kitchen, and it brings a sense of “home” into the restaurant.
Edgar Rodriguez
ReplyDeleteDr. Schmoll
English 100
5 April 2011
Restaurant Review
Maui Pho Fusion BBQ & Grill in Bakersfield is one of the best places to eat Asian food. With its broadly ranged menu the food is delicious. As, being the first time in Maui Pho’s the greeting, servings, and service made me love this place. It is located on Ming, on the Home Depot plaza. It has a drive thru, and it seems like it is not a good place to eat at, but in reality it is a decent place.
Entering Maui Pho, nice greetings from the workers is the best way to get more customers. The entrance is on the side of the building. It is some sort of counter ordering place with different types of tables in the place for different occasions. In the center it has round tables for eight people per table; along the walls of the place there are squared tables for four people per table; and towards the front of the building there is a long table for a special occasion either for meetings or just a big family gathering having a little more privacy away from the other tables. It might be considered a fast food place, but sure is more like a restaurant. It’s broadly ranged menu always grabs the attention with some images next to the list. The menu is divided into different categories. They have wings, Chinese food, and even seafood.
The food is delicious. Appetizers to start with are some egg rolls and salt and pepper shrimp. The order consisted of Hawaiian short ribs, beef pho, and shrimp fried rice. The Hawaiian short ribs were very tasteful with its medium thick barbeque that has its unique taste, that when you are done with the ribs you just want to lick your fingers. Beef Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup that consists of noodles with beef. Beef pho is meant to be steaming hot with raw beef meet just sliced into it and then it cooks in the dish. It came with bean sprouts, mint, cilantro, basil, and citrus which makes it have a better taste. I added some hot sauce and made it tasty on the soup giving the noodles more of a spicy taste. The shrimp fried rice was good too. There was plenty of shrimp which at any other Chinese place they don’t serve you much shrimp. It smelled good and it was well cooked by far this is the best Chinese food in Bakersfield. Fried rice was the traditional fried rice, but the only difference was that it tasted much better and it wasn’t thick as the other fried rice’s I tasted in Bakersfield.
The service was astonishing. Even though it was on a busy weekend the workers maintained a very peaceful environment. The waiters would walk around every few minutes to make sure the clients were satisfied with food, service, and or if they wanted anything else. The workers seemed to be happy to work there. They would make a conversation with one making him or her feel like at home.
It has a big variety of food. The convenient location just a little of the 99 and down the highly know street of Ming. The food is delicious, and plenty to save. One plate of food can feed up to two persons, but that is not all, each plate is under ten dollars. I would recommend Maui Pho Fusion BBQ & Grill. If the rating was from one star to five from one being very poorly and five being very well, I would give it the full five stars.
Joana Contreras
ReplyDeleteApril 5, 2011
English 100
Dr. Schmoll
My Hometown Buffet Review
Hometown buffet is a wonderful restaurant where people can go with their loved ones and have a nice meal. It’s the type of restaurant that when you walk in we’ll feel like home and also feel very welcome. Everything about this place is wonderful like the service, the people eating, and of course the atmosphere. This is one of my favorite restaurants to go to because after ending there not only does my stomach feel happy but it also makes my day a lot better as well.
During my visit at Hometown Buffet this past weekend everyone there including myself felt every relaxed to be in such a friendly environment. The atmosphere was full of enjoyment and the smell of the restaurant made it seem like you could already taste the food being made. Although I was treated like any other customer I really did enjoy my meal and the surroundings of the restaurant. Even though the people around me didn’t notice me I still felt like I was at a family barbeque because when I’m with my family everyone is happy and everyone at hometown buffet was happy as well.
Despite the fact the restaurant was full of people and seem like I would have to wait a while before I was assisted a table, fortunately it turn out the other way around. The service there was excellent because once I got there and paid for my meal I didn't have to wait long to be taken to the table. I could tell right away that the people working there were doing anything they could so that people wouldn’t have to wait for a table. Once I was at my table and was done with my done with my meal the waitress would be ready to pick up the pales. Everyone there was on track so that the people that came to hometown buffet would be happy when they left.
Everywhere I would look I would see families having a good time with each other and enjoying each other’s company. It is the types of place were anyone can go and feel calmed like nothing bad can happen. It’s the place I love to go if I was having a bad day simply because seeing everyone cheerful would make me forget why the day turn out to be a bad one.
Another thing would be to have a good meal of course for the reason that when I went the food was amazing and of cores since it was a buffet there was a variety of foods to choose from. The buffet had so many different types of food not just American but from cultures as well and a dessert area. i had many options to pick but my first plate was a slender sliced cooked ham, a baked potato with bacon and cheese on the top, also some fried shrimp, and a bowl of soup. It was so tasteful that before I would take a bit I felt my mouth getting watery. I had such a great time there and wouldn't mine going again. It was a nice experience to notice all of the wonderful things that hometown buffet has that I didn't realize before. Hometown buffet is a great restaurant to go to with the people you love and anyone who wants to have a good meal should go there as well.
Vanessa Lopez
ReplyDeleteRestaurant Review
English 100.4
Dr. Schmoll
My Chinese voyage was to Panda Express on Gosford Road and Pacheco. At the entrance you can smell all sorts of spices. However, you can’t help but notice the ambiance of the place. Panda Express is so peaceful yet so colorful which allows it to stand out even more. Even the workers contribute to brightening the place up with their red, green, yellow, orange, and purple shirts. Although most of the team members are either Mexican or Caucasian, they still manage to pull of that Chinese effect with the soft Chinese background music. Most of the time this place is filled with people and they get and incredibly long line of customers. At Panda Express you can expect to see average human beings enjoying the food, but you rarely see business people holding a meeting there or anything like that so don’t worry about not being to presentable to eat at Panda.
Panda Express has a lot of variety when it comes to the sweet, juicy, mouth watering food. A few of my favorites include Honey Walnut Shrimp, Sweet Fire Chicken Breasts, Black Pepper Chicken, and Kung Pao Chicken. Among my favorite sides are the Chow Mein and the Steam Rice. There is many appetizers to choose from but I prefer the Cream Cheese Ragoons.
On my visit to Panda Express I ordered a combo that had half Chow Mein and Steam Rice for my side. For my entrees I had the Honey Walnut Shrimp, Sweet Fire Chicken Breasts, and the Black Pepper Chicken. I also ordered a separate entrée of Kung Pao Chicken and Cream Cheese Ragoons.
The Honey Walnut Shrimp is by far my favorite. This entrée is prepared with fresh tempura shrimp. It is wok tossed with gourmet honey sauce and topped with glazed walnuts. The shrimp looked very soft and delicate but it is actually a lot crunchier when it recently comes out of the wok. These delicious smelling shrimp dish taste so sweet and mustardy.
Next in line is the Sweet Fire Chicken Breasts. This dish is composed of all white chicken meat made with red bell peppers, diced onions and juicy pineapple. It has a zesty sweet chili sauce that makes your tongue tingle when it touches it. When eating this you can hear the crunchy sound of the crispy white chicken chunks.
Then I tried the Black Pepper Chicken which is diced chicken accompanied with chopped celery, sliced onions, and fresh ground pepper. All this prepared with ginger soy sauce. This type of meat accumulates water in your mouth just with its smell and because of the pepper it also makes your tongue quiver.
Last but not least the spicy Kung Pao Chicken. This stir-fried dish is composed of diced chicken with peanuts, red bell peppers, sliced zucchini, and green onions. According to the Panda Express team members, this dish is their spiciest yet. However, I am use to spicy foods so I did not consider the dish spicy at all but rather appetizing.
The experience as a whole was very appealing. All dishes are said to be excellent but I think I had enough with what I tried to know it is high quality Chinese food. Try it and I hope you guys become satisfied as I did.
Sandrini’s Restaurant Review
ReplyDeleteEntering Sandrini’s restaurant requires your careful descent of a long staircase and an adjustment to dim lights. Once your eyes adjust, you realize you have just discovered a well kept secret. The appeal of old brick walls and a full bar which forms a complete circle in the middle of Sandrini’s greets you. The faces of people seem to say; you have to be one of us, but welcome, if you love downtown, you already are.
After a brief wait and a cold Guinness from tap (only a few in town) my wife and I are seated in a comfortably large round booth with a maroon table cloth colored to avoid pretension (or more likely to keep your eyes off of wine stains). Our waiter brings out warm soft-bread, olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette and takes drink orders promptly. I asked for a house Cab and was brought a pleasing J. Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon that had been given a chance to breathe. I usually order a house wine if the restaurant has a decent wine list, in hopes of economy and not being disappointed. The menu selection at Sandrini’s is diverse and intends to please. The menu is a blend of Italian and Basque with entrees including Muscovy Duck and Lamb but also standards such as New York Steak. The appetizers keep to a small list but it seems as if it is better to do simply a few things quite well.
For an appetizer we ordered the Bruchetta Trio which Sandrini’s defines as:
Crostini topped with: diced Roma tomato, basil & garlic.
olive Tapanade, and sun-dried tomato pesto & herbed goat cheese. Post #1
Mondo Alexander
ReplyDelete4-5-11
English 100
Dr. Schmoll
Fabious Corner is a Soul Food based restaurant that lives up to the awards that have been won in the past. The most recent award that Fabious corner had won was in 2009 for being the best soul food restaurant in town. This award not only is given to the restaurant with the best soul food in town, but also to the restaurant that is unique in multiple ways. This soul food joint is hot and is guaranteed to have their customers leave with a nice full belly and a smile on their face.
This hot spot welcomes all dress codes like casual attire, business attire, and t-shirt and gym shorts. You will see all types of individuals dining in this little heavenly place on earth. This restaurant is located on the corner of Chester and Chester St. The restaurants have a very appetizing menu that will leave a person licking every finger after they got done eating their meal. Fabious Corner focuses on traditional food that African Americans typically eat back south. Mr. Fab, the owner of Fabious Corner said “since I do not live in the south anymore, why not bring a little of the south to California.”
Just walking in this little beautiful place, you will feel right at home. This restaurant has a nice cozy church feel to it. While looking around, I was able to see there were a lot of scriptures from the Holy Bible posted on the wall. This brought about a sense of security knowing that this place is affiliated with God.
The service was good too; the employees were well mannered and respectful. I noticed that when workers were not cooking, they would be cleaning. They always stayed busy. Everything seem like it was a sense of urgency with them. The last thing they wanted the customers to do is to wait for a long time. I can assure you that the food took no more than 10 or 15 minutes.
While I was there I was able to sample a few of the house dishes. I ate three different types of dinners. The first dinner was the chicken dinner ($15), then the hot link plate ($15), and last the rib dinner ($15). The best thing about these dinners was waiting for each plate. While I was waiting I was able to smell the aroma of all three dinners. There is nothing better than smelling sizzling fried chicken, cheesy macaroni and cheese, and steaming mixed vegetables. After the first dinner was cooked, my nose was invaded by the spicy smell of hot links, chili beans, and cornbread with a little butter rubbed on the top. The last dinner made me have an epiphany of how lucky I am to be African American. That dinner consisted of honey bar-b-que baby back ribs, potato salad or macaroni salad, black eyed peas, and a complementary side dish of peach cobbler.
All three dinners were absolutely amazing. I have never eaten any soul food that also caused me to injure myself. That’s right, injure myself. The ribs were so tender that they were falling off the bone and this made me eat the ribs like there was no tomorrow. While I was eating I bit my finger. Biting my finger did not stop me. It just caused me to slow down and eat the rest of the food slowly and savor the taste. All the food was amazing. I was speechless and sleepy after the meal. There is no way possible a customer would leave the restaurant unhappy.
What can I say about the hottest soul food joint in Bakersfield? There is really not anything bad I could say about this restaurant. Not only that the atmosphere of the restaurant was great, but the food and the service were too. This restaurant offers fine dining while offering relaxation. Instead of having to get all dressed up to go to an intricate restaurant, you can jump into some casual clothes and go down to Fabious Corner and still feel like you are at a fancy restaurant. I highly recommend people to try out this hot spot. I am sure you will not leave the restaurant disappointed.
The first impression I had was like I was entering a family member's home. The first thought that entered my mind after taking the first bite of J's fried chicken and waffles was, “I have to tell everyone about this food!” Andrew ordered the chicken and dumplings and after our first bites, we just looked at each other with pure amazement. The fried chicken is like a sea of flavor. It's cooked just right and has the perfect amount of pepper. As you bite into it, you can taste the juicy and moist goodness that the cook takes such pride in making. The waffle is completely distinguishable from any store bought waffle. It's mind-blowing once the syrup is poured onto it. I absolutely had to steal a bite from my boyfriend's entree. The chicken and dumplings was hearty and flavorful. Not to mention the BBQ chicken tacos! They had this sweet BBQ flavor, but with a spicy kick. The BBQ hot links even kicked that spicy kick! After every few bites, I had to wash it down with some sweet red kool-aid. There are two kinds of kool-aid that they serve, purple and red. Andrew ordered the purple and I ordered the red. The red is incredibly sweet and rich with flavor and is ideal for anybody who has a sweet tooth. I also had a sip of the purple kool-aid and it’s a bit more on the tart side, but still very tasty, nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteThe entrees are served with the choice of two sides and a square of corn bread. It's a lot of food for a pretty decent price. The sides include either yams, mac and cheese, greens, fried cabbage, a waffle, black-eyed peas, dirty rice, corn bread, chili beans, or corn.
The yams are hands down the best yams I've ever tasted in my life. There is a plethora of brown sugar on it and it's surprisingly very complimentary to the yams. The mac and cheese was like regular mac and cheese, but times a thousand in terms of taste. It's so flavor-packed that I enjoyed savoring the cheddar cheese on the soft pasta shells. The greens are cauliflower and are exceptionally appetizing for those vegetable lovers. It's like biting into a vegetable soup, since they are so luscious and saturated with the liquids they are slowly cooked with. The dirty rice is a much more different side order, because it has a mixture of things put into it and it really looks as it sounds. Despite the fact that it looks as it sounds, it definitely defies any negative connotations that come with the word “dirty”. All of these tasty sides that I have tried make you wonder what isn't ridiculously flavorful and satisfying? The answer that I’ve concluded is simply nothing.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMatthew Correa
ReplyDeleteDr.Schmoll
4/8/11
Food Review
Casa Manana is a Mexican food restaurant family owned and operated since 1964, located in Santa Maria, Ca. Voted best #1 Mexican food in the Santa Maria Sun for the past eight years, and voted best Mexican food in the Pulitzer Central Coast Peoples’ Choice newspaper. By knowing all the awards they had won, this made me want to go and try out the so called best Mexican food in Santa Maria. Pulling into the parking lot into Casa Manana there were many cars and the lot was full so we had to park in a dirt lot, note don’t bring your car there if you barely got a car wash, this should be worked on because the parking lot is to small and should be more space that’s not on dirt. Finally being parked, my friend and I walked into the restaurant and were greeted right away by a bus boy that quickly cleaned off a booth for us to sit at. Looking around waiting for our menus to get to us I could tell that nothing has changed in the furniture since opening in 60s. The décor is outdated springs on the booths were broken and the only thing that looked to be changed since first opening were the table cloths. There were numerous of paintings around that gave Casa Manana that Mexican feel and even a picture from the 50s when it was a CHP station, before it became Casa Manana, and also a swordfish hanging on the wall.
The bus boy that quickly cleaned our table came back and was apologizing for having taken long giving us our menus. I had told him it was ok because he had also brought a bowl of chips and salsa along with the menus and he had looked like he had his hands full because the restaurant was busy and alive. Opening up the menu I had seen they had several dishes to choose from and I had no idea what I wanted. So I decided to ask one the customers what was good and they seemed very eager to tell me the wife said to get the shredded beef burrito and the husband had told me to go with the tacos. I had asked if they had been there before and they told me they had been going there since 1987, so I knew they had given good advice. By the time I had gotten done talking to them our waiter came and was ready to take our order I had gone with the advice of the married couple by getting a beef bean and rice burrito and also two tacos one with beef and the other with guacamole, my friend went along and got the steak fajitas.
After ordering I noticed that the portion size of the chips and salsa were rather quite small. But the taste sure did make up for it and we were also told that chips and salsa were free and you get as many chips as you can eat or whenever the waiter has enough time to bring more to you. The salsa was delicious was not too mild or spicy. The chips were also good but some of them were stale and I had told waiter and he brought back another bowl that was freshly made. Eating the chips and salsa made me feel at home because the music they played and people talking made it feel like I was at my grandma’s house waiting on her delicious meal and talking to family. The timing of our meal was fast and at the perfect time because my appetite had suddenly showed up by the smell of the food I had ordered.
By the time we were finished eating, we simultaneously recalled that they had desserts. We figured if the food was that delicious, then the desserts must be as well. There's sweet potato pie, banana cookie pudding, sock-it-to-me cake, caramel cake, peach cobbler, lemon cake, and vanilla ice cream. We were both so stuffed that we almost considered not ordering dessert, but then the waitress came up to our table and asked us if we were finished, after replying yes, she said that she was going to bring us a surprise. She came back with a two little samples of—you would definitely have to find that out for yourself.
ReplyDeleteEvery chance I get, I try to make the trip to J's Place to get a bite to eat. Andrew and I have talked about how we have always wanted to eat at a place where the people who work there know us by name because we eat there so often. After that first visit at J's Place, he asked me, “Can this be the place where they know us by name?” My answer was, “Absolutely.” You should most certainly make the trip as well. You never know, you may love the special surprise they serve you as well as the delectable entrees, appetizers, side orders, beverages, and desserts (just remember to tell them that this is your first time there for that special surprise).
Frugatti’s review
ReplyDeleteAfter looking around for the best restaurant nearby, last night I went to a restaurant called Frugatti’s. It was a fancy Italian restaurant located at 600 Coffee Road. The restaurant’s outside design looked a lot like an old town house. The restaurant windows were tinted, so my friend and I could not see the inside decoration from the outside. When we entered, we knew it was going to be an expensive meal. There were only five customers in the restaurant at lunch time, which told us that the restaurant was either bad or expensive which it was expensive in our case. Every piece of decoration indicates that: the high ceilings, the tables, the kitchen, and the way waiters dressed and served. It was one of the fanciest Italian restaurants that I had ever been to. Waiters were dressed formally and would walk customers to their tables. The tables were made from thick dark wood and on the surface, they were designed with white and orange marbles squares. The restaurant’s atmosphere was amazing. The lights were set on a low level and there was an old classic Italian and English music playing. There was something unique about their kitchen oven. It was built with red bricks and designed in cylindrical way. When we looked over the menu there were a variety of dishes that have been created in the restaurant and most of their dishes were cooked by wood fair, which gave their dishes special taste. Though the restaurant has unique type of cooking, its rating could only be passed on the service and food quality.
When we walked through the restaurant, the waiter welcomed us and walked us to our table. He quickly grabbed a couple of menus and placed them on our table. We started with drinks while we look through the menu for orders. The menu was written in very unique way. Since the restaurant has opened in 1990s the founder of the restaurant and his waif have created and made some changes to many of their dishes. Under every dish they had created or changed, they wrote brief story of the way they came up with it recipes. For example, Edna’s lasagna classic, which was my main course order, had been slightly changed from the typical lasagna. The restaurant founder stated that “My wife Anne, created the best lasagna you will ever have, Nonni and Papo mispronounced her name as “Edna”, which has become a family joke”, explaining the meaning behind the dish name. The way that the menu was written made me feel at home among people that I knew for long time.
After looking through the menu, we decided to start with caser salad as an appetizer. It was freshly made salad with tendered sliced chicken and toasted bread dressed with parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and olive oil. It was placed in medium size bowl and there was a pincer for taking the salads from the bowl to your plate. Few minutes later, the waiter came up with the main courses. I ordered the Edna’s lasagna classic and my friend ordered the grilled chicken fettuccine. Honestly, I could not taste the deference between it and any other lasagna. The only thing that I could say is they prepared it very well. It was medium piece of lasagna, placed on egg-shaped plate, filled with heated cheese and meat sauce. It looked very delicious that I could not wait for it to cool down. Each bit tasted better than the previous one, but I felt full quickly because it was a little fatty.
In conclusion, Fugetti’s is a qualified restaurant for anyone who would like to enjoy Italian food in Bakersfield. Though it is slightly expensive, the food was tasteful, the service and the atmosphere were amazing. If I would give it a rate, I would say it was seven out of ten.the design and the service was perfect. The only thing that wasn’t as expected is the food quality. It could not stand to the quality of service, piece, and the way the restaurant was designed.
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ReplyDeleteI visited Chipotle Tejon Ranch restaurant, on April 5, 2011 around 6:00 pm. It’s located at 5602 Dennis McCarthy Dr Lebec, CA 93203. The restaurant food is something to get excited about because of the flavors. They serve the healthiest food around town and have a really friendly staff. As soon as you step through the entrance everyone welcomes you with a smile and a positive attitude. When you first enter the store and turn left you’ll see a wall full of unique art work which really captures your attention. So far this is the largest chipotle I have visited. During my visit I sampled the delicious chicken burrito ($8), which was great. They also offer salads, tacos, and bowls. My burrito contain cilantro lime rice, vegetarian black beans, grilled chicken, mild and hot sauce, sour cream and guacamole. Each ingredient on my burrito was fresh, which gave me the feeling of being outside with nature. The smell of all the meats made it hard to pick, which made it hard to pick since all of them were freshly made. The burrito was unique because it was personalized, it was made just the way I wanted it. The burrito was bigger than I thought it would have been, so it took me awhile to actually finish it, but it also meant more time to enjoy the beauty of the perfectly wrapped burrito. Every time I took a bite of the burrito the flavors got stronger and made my stomach feel butterflies inside. The avocado which was $1.80 extra was totally worth it. During my visit at chipotle I ran into my good friend Andrea who was eager to try chipotle for the first time in her life.Therefore, chipotle stole our hearts and, I recommend it for everyone traveling to the LA area or are simply passing by, to stop and eat chipotle. It’s the healthiest food in all the area and will make you feel like home. If you’re a parent don’t worry about getting your children a big burrito; they have four different types of delicious kid’s meal you may order. Your children will be eating healthy. Better than giving them a lot of junk food take them to chipotle for a healthy meal.
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend, Forrest and I are still getting used to our new neighborhood and the various restaurants. Down California Ave. I remembered one of the best pizza spots I went to after softball games when I was younger. We made our way down California, and turned into the shopping center. To my surprise there was no pizza place to be found, instead, “Flame and Skewers” Mediterranean food. We decided to switch gears from greasy pizza to Mediterranean, and headed in.
ReplyDeleteOnce we were inside, we realized there was a line to order up front. Forrest is not as open to ethnic foods, so he was more uncomfortable than I was, so I sent him to snag a table, and I was left to make the decisions as to what to order. One glance at the menu and I knew I had stepped into a whole new world. “Shawerma, tabbooleh, felefal,” all sounded like sounds I would make while sneezing. I decided to listen in to what others in line were saying. The word ‘Lamb” stood out. I knew that we both loved a good lamb. The ladies at the registers were young and did not seem of a Mediterranean heritage, nor did the cooks, however, I didn’t ask. I put an order in for two lamb platters. I was asked how I wanted the lamb prepared when I noticed these two, huge slabs of roasted, rotating meat. I asked her if the lamb was in chops, when the answer was yes, I knew to keep the temperature low, “Medium rare,” I answered. To my surprise I spent about 30 dollars for the two of us. The price was a bit much for me. I took the two cups, and proceeded to the soda fountain. I poured some sodas and watched in amazement as some customers helped themselves to what looked like pink French fries, stored at the drink station. I found Forrest and we had a look around. Most of the people were in jeans and a T-shirt. Some suits were in the room too. An upper-class area I assumed with the price and shiny cars parked outside. The maroon and gold decorations almost bring a sense of royalty, however, inviting at the same time. Small art pieces hang on the walls with Indian motifs. The two flat screens are turned to a perhaps a Mediterranean program that showcasing some important cultural aspects: music and soccer. The enchanting women singing on the screen really sets the authentic mood. We notice there are seats outside in the patio, but the weather was too hot for that day. Our number was called. Forrest returned with the tray and we took a deep breath.
The black pieces of square lamb lay atop neon yellow rice. Grilled, soggy vegetables joined by hummus and a flatbread. The pre-dressed side salad looked appetizing. I took my knife to dig into the first bite of lamb. Although not so inviting at first layer, I could tell it was a nice cut of lamb. The lamb was very tender in the middle. I wrestled with a few pieces of fat; however, it was well worth the effort. Once I got over the color, I appreciated the perfectly cooked rice. It matched perfectly with the lamb. One bite into the grilled veggies and I was done with them. Each piece would soak my mouth with unpleasant grease that I was unprepared for. Unfortunately, the same effect came from the side salad. Perhaps the dressing could be on the side next time. I was very glad that the hummus and flatbread brought no worries. Altogether, the four pieces I enjoyed also worked very well together. I was surprised to see others eating French fries around us. Next time we can switch those out with the vegetables.
Besides the two “healthy” sides I disagreed with, Flame and Skewers was actually impressive. Forrest wanted to return for those French fries, as did I. I would give this establishment a score of 3 out of 5 stars. I am excited to increase this rating in the future visits I have.
Post #2
ReplyDeleteMy wife has a smiling, mouthful excitement and her pointing at the Bruchetta was a positive review enticing me to try it. She is right. It’s very good although maybe a bit heavy on the basil after a few bites.
Our waiter seems to take notice when customers are chatty personalities and others are not. In his social grace, I notice he doesn’t interrupt the local news caster who seems much too serious for such a light-hearted atmosphere. The waiter is keeping wine glasses full and seems to know half of the room by name or favorite drink. He takes our order and I settled on the Paella, described by the menu as :
A version of the popular Basque classic features Manila clams, shrimp,
sea scallops & sausage baked with white rice, red & green bell peppers, Spanish onion, Roma tomato, a blend of fresh herbs and spices with a splash of white wine.
The dish came sizzling on a cast iron skillet which kept the clams and shrimp from cooling. This presentation and its aroma blend the strong effect of anticipation.
My wife’s order arrives, a Pan Seared Salmon,
8 oz. salmon filet dusted with flour & pan seared to
perfection, finished with a sage brown butter sauce &
served with a butternut squash succotash.
An elegant white plate arrives with salmon centered over the squash diminished only slightly by my wife’s inability to have a good wine with dinner that night.
I pick up my fork and notice a small detail in the silverware, feeling a roundness of the utensils that gives a special quality. Finally the taste; it is a welcomed dizziness of flavor. The peppers are a wonderful combination with the scallops and add a fullness to the taste. I love to find examples of excellence, those fine things I can never pull off myself. I tell my wife “ these onions aren’t soggy” and she knows what I mean, they are perfect, mine are soggy. I have a momentary regret, the clams are small but I forgive the West Coast for the diminishment want more. I offer one to Beth and her head shaking tells me I don’t have to share. “Can I have some salmon?” I ask with assumption, leaning foreward with my fork. “Wow, that’s better than mine.”
The great appeal of Sandrini’s seems to be in the great ability to elevate a modest atmosphere to a casual refinement. I found the pricing to be very reasonable and in fact comparable to other restaurants of much lower quality.
My wife and I have returned many times during the past few years to enjoy wine and food while deciding how to remodel our kitchen, if should we have a baby, and should we have another baby. Sandrini’s has become the place of many of our most revealing conversations and decisions. It’s where we will likely be found when the baby sitter is willing and my wife wants Chicken Piccata.
Juan Calderon
ReplyDeleteEng. 100
Restaurant review
Frosty king: in Lamont California
Frosty king is a place for family and friend’s
On Sundays, my family and I usually go out to eat and try to get in some family time by having fun and forgetting about the week. We usually go to Frosty King located in Lamont where they have a variety of things to choose from, such as burgers, malts, and ice cream. They also have an arcade and a jukebox inside, so if you’re waiting for your order you have time go right ahead and play games to make the time fly by faster. This is a place for the family so the dress is casual. There is really never a long wait for the food, just five to ten minutes because they are very fast considering the amount of people they serve. The capacity in the room is for 50 people, so it may not be the biggest place, but it’s a great place to host small parties or a family get-together. Also, if you don’t like a big crowd, you can always eat outside of the restaurant, or you can get your food to go and eat at home.
Ambiance
The ambiance in Frosty King is calm and tranquil. It is very soothing, especially after a long week of school or work, making it the ideal place to come right after a long week and spend time with family. Frosty King is just something you have to experience for yourself. The experience is something that can’t be explained. It is a place to bond with your family and friends. The ambiance is part of what makes Frosty King such a special place. Over all, Frosty King is a very calm place because of its size. It is also tranquil because it is warm during the winter and cool in the summer.
The Food
There are a variety of burgers, which total fourteen different types. There is an endless combination of ice-cream, as well as malts. It just depends how you like your food and how you ask them to make it for you. The food is always great. I usually get a Hawaiian burger, which consists of lean ground beef, Italian salad dressing with a pint of pineapple juice, brown sugar and honey, followed by Swiss cheese and I like to add a little bacon every once in a while. Finally, I like the toasted hamburger buns and top it off with a drink and fries, at a very low cost of eight dollars. The burger is soft, smells delicious, and smells like bacon. When I wrap my hands around it and take a big bite, the taste just rushes through my mouth to create an amazing taste. Then, I take a drink of coke and get ready for the next bite. If the price doesn’t get you, the taste will. Just looking at it makes your mouth water. When you finally get your food, you just fall into its delicious flavors of complete awesomeness. Also, don’t forget--you have your fries and drink which makes this experience even better. I would completely recommend the Hawaiian burger to anybody as it is one of my favorite dishes at Frosty king.
Service
The service there is very good considering that sometimes it’s very crowded. However, you can always call ahead and ask if it is crowded. If it is, you can find a way to spend time elsewhere until the crowd thins out. Or, you can go to Frosty King when it isn’t so crowded. The perfect time to go is sometime between 10 a.m. and 12 a.m. Shortly after that, it gets a bit crowded and sometimes a little too crowded. Of course, you can always take your food out and eat it elsewhere.
Over all - I would defiantly recommend this to all my friends and anybody passing by the Lamont area it’s a very nice place and the food is just awesome and also because it’s just a good place to spend time with the family and just talk and have fun with anyone and everyone.
Location – 9201 Weedpatch Highway, Lamont, CA. Phone: (661) 845-2225.
Price – The price ranges from as low as eight dollars to as much as fourteen dollars, depending on how hungry you are. The hamburger comes with French fries and a drink.
Details –Open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Stephanie I Love CHECKERS!!!
ReplyDeleteA restaurant review: The Stinking Rose
ReplyDeleteStink is a word defined by any dictionary as a strong foul odor, to be highly offensive, or
even used as a slang for something that has bad quality; This is not the case here. Here it means
tasty, delicious, and smells good. Thanks to the stinking rose, an Italian cuisine, that changed
the meaning of stink. This restaurant opened first in San Francisco on Columbus Avenue by
owner and executive chef Andrea Froncillo. The second branch is in Los Angeles Beverly Hills
on north La Cienega boulevard which I visited with a couple of friends. The firs time I have
heard of it from a friend a couple of questions emerged like – why is it stinking? And what is
their secret? The answer to these questions is one word – Garlic. Yes garlic is the secret, so garlic
lovers welcome to heaven!.
When I arrived, me and my friends to the Beverly Hills branch we immediately realized
that there is a problem with parking. The reason was because it is hard to park on the street, so
the best way is to take advantage of their valet service which costs around 6 dollars. As soon as
we entered we were captured by the huge a mount of celebrity photos ranging from Bob Hope to
Michael Jackson. As we walked through the hall, workers welcomed us and asked about how
many were of us having dinner. Then we waited for a couple of minutes as it was very crowded.
Finally, our waiter showed up and took us to the dinning hall. The hall was magnificent, it was
two sections. The first was normal booths, and the other was portrayed after a carnival tents
colored in red and white. The whole hall was like a carnival, there was people laughing, talking,
eating, and above all that was the clinking of plates and glasses. Moreover, we were seated and
handed the menu. The menu as any other menu starts with the appetizers that include a variety
of sea food. Such as, mussels, shrimps, and crabs marinated in of course garlic. It includes also a
garlic soaking in a hot tub which basically cloves of garlic swimming in olive oil and butter. The
prices for them ranges between 9$ for small plates to 39$ for large plates or combos. There is
also pizzas included under the appetizers with one size only for 10$. In addition, they offer
salads for the price of 10$ with the option of adding chicken or shrimp for 4$. Moving on to the
main dishes, it offers pastas, steaks, favorites, and sea foods with the price ranges of 16-25$,
30-45$, 15-22$, and 20-25$ respectively. At the end of the menu there was the drink including
sodas, lemonade, and wines. While we were reading the menu we enjoyed eating pieces of
Italian bread with a plate of olive oil to dip them in.
After we checked the menu and we decided to order a combo of shrimps, mussels, and
ReplyDeletecrabs for a starter; for the main dishes filet mignon steak, fettuccini Alfred pasta, and a garlic
filet mignon pizza were our choices. For a drink we ordered a bottle of red wine. Furthermore,
we waited no longer than two minutes for the drinks to arrive, and an additional three minutes for
the starters. Until that time the service was on time and it continues to be timely perfect. As soon
as we were done from the appetizers the main dishes arrive.
I talked a lot about the menu and the prices and now to the most important – how does it
taste?. We were afraid the garlic will kill the taste of the food if there was lots of it, but it appears
that the chef has done a good job of balancing the amount of it in every dish. The steak tasted
like some one holding a piece of meat in one hand and on the other is a clove of well cooked
garlic. This goes for every dish. However, I recommend not kissing your girlfriend until after
chewing a gum or brushing your teeth. Moreover, we were handed the dessert menu which
includes ice creams, teramisus, and sundaes until my eyes fell on something called Gilroy’s
famous garlic ice cream and yes it is ice cream with garlic and you can also add caramel!. How
does it taste? Well, it tasted unexpectedly good, unusual, confusing, and it actually tasted like an
ice-cream.
All in all the food, ambiance, and service adds up to build a great restaurant. The prices
are quite expensive but for what you get is convenience. The restaurant is one of the nicest places
I have ever visited, and to show how nice is it they offer garlic- free “Vampire Fare” for people
who do not like garlic.
*The Rating: Too Stinky. (This rating system is exclusive for the stinking rose)
*Too Stinky=Out Standing, Stinky= Excellent, Not Stinky Enough= Good, Not Stinky At All= Poor.
2nd post:
ReplyDeleteThe Food: On a good note, the dining adventure begins with a passion for great food, infused with internationally inspired, intriguing flavors, freshness and quality ingredients and the flair of wood-fired and wok cooking styles. The Elephant Bar has been by far one of the best choices and I’d highly recommend this restaurant to my friends and family. The menu is very diverse so there is something for everyone to choose from. The only bad thing about having such a diverse variety of food is that it makes it difficult to choose just one thing! I ordered a few succulent appetizers consisting of Wok Fire Chicken and Lettuce Wraps and their famous Artichoke Dip. For our main course Roy and I both enjoyed a bowl of Pan Asian Vegetable and Noodle Soup, some juicy, moist, mouth watering Sautéed Chicken Marsala and Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Skewers. I had to step outside of my box and try one of the most amazing dishes ever; Crispy Honey Orange Shrimp. I had a nice, cold, refreshing drink to wash it all down; the Kona Kooler with Red Bull.
The Service: The service at the Elephant Bar has always been great. It tends to get pretty crowded, especially on weekends. I would make a plan to go early or inquire about reservations for reserved seating. Once people arrive, the host or hostess will give out a pager for notification of when the table is ready. People can also sit in the bar, which is very nice and is definitely a great place to socialize. The staff at the restaurant is always friendly and the food is served in a timely manner. The food is always hot, fresh and I have never had any problems at this restaurant.
The Pricing: Prices for Elephant Bar is pretty reasonable. Happy Hour items are usually at a half off price and appetizers run anywhere from $7-11. Drinks are anywhere from $2-12. Main courses range from $7-22.
“People are the key to delivering the Elephant Bar’s preferred dining experience through warm, friendly and attentive service…they go to great lengths to make the dining experience unique and memorable; fulfilling special requests with a "Yes We Can" attitude.” -David Nancarrow. Again, I would recommend this fine establishment to my friends, family, and co-workers. What do you say? Let’s go have a drink and enjoy some exotically inspired food.
I was now ready to chow down so I grabbed the burrito and took a bite and it was good the taste of the shredded beef was perfect it was juicy had the perfect texture not to chewy or tough and tasted freshly made. Next was the guacamole taco which didn’t disappoint the guacamole was good tasted fresh and along with the taco shell it made it even better, it reminded me of the beach eating chips and guacamole right by the ocean water. After eating the taco and burrito I was already stuffed but I still had to eat the shredded beef taco. The taco hit the spot the shredded beef was excellent and I was ready to go to sleep. I got to sample my friends’ steak fajita and that was excellent too now next time I know I should try the fajitas too. Never had I been that stuffed before and was satisfied. I had to sit there awhile because I couldn’t move. Our waiter handed us the bill and it was time to pay.
ReplyDeleteThe pricing of the food wasn’t too bad the food was worth the price. My burrito and two tacos came out to a price of ten dollars and my friend’s steak fajitas came out to eleven dollars our drinks were one dollar each, so total we paid twenty three dollar plus the tip. One thing I should warn you Casa Manana only takes cash or local checks they don’t take debit or credit which is a downside so be prepared. Casa Manana tries keeping the Mexican tradition but were not too authentic, can’t complain though only time you’re going to eat real tradition Mexican food is either at a grandparents house or in Mexico. I would go back a next time to Casa Manana when I’m down in Santa Maria. The restaurant can be recommended to those who are looking for a good Mexican restaurant. Don’t forget bring cash, parking space is small so be prepared to park in the dirt if its busy, Casa Manana is not the biggest of restaurants, and most importantly bring your appetite.
@Rich4309: I really liked your review. I enjoy Chipotle's food and was actually thinking about eating there after this class. I particularly liked the phrases you used as well as the alliteration. The last sentence made me laugh. "Great job!" :P
ReplyDeletehaha LAMONT FROSTY KING has to be the best lol hahahaha smh
ReplyDeleteI now want to go try Juicy Burger (:
ReplyDeleteMoving to Bakersfield from San Diego was a big difference for me in the food culture (considering that I was born and raised there and rarely ever left). While living in San Diego my girlfriend and I had eaten at many restaurants, selecting few for our favorite foods. During my time of freshman year in college I have potentially found another amazing restaurant to add onto the list of my few favorites. The food was not the only thing that made my experiences with this upbeat restaurant a time to remember, the customer service was excellent and the prices were fair. Grading on a basic scale from one to ten, (ten being my favorite restaurant) I am going bold and giving the Logan’s Roadhouse on California Avenue a nine.
ReplyDeleteIf looking for a calm quiet environment, I would suggest not even pulling into the parking lot. When walking into this place the energy and tempo in the restaurant can change the mood of a bad day within minutes. Walking inside all different types of noises and sounds are coming from every direction. As the hostess walked us to the table I remember hearing and feeling what sounded to be snail shells underneath my shoes happened to be peanut shells all over the floor. As we sat into the booth we arrived to find a full pail of peanuts that are for the customers to open, eat and just toss the shells on the ground. Music was playing at a noticeable enough sound level along with the flat screen televisions and the others people around us.
I found myself to be very impressed by the services at the restaurant. During the three times I visited Logan’s Roadhouse I was lucky enough to see how each night was a different experience. Two of the times that my girlfriend and I went there we happened to have the same waitress, and both of the times going the situations she was handed were completely reversed. The first time she served us the restaurant was packed full of people every table occupied by hungry families and friends, due a wrestling tournament that was in town and all the wrestlers stayed in a nearby hotel. When the restaurant seemed to be at the busiest of the night the waitress seemed to be running around the restaurant like a chicken with its head cut off when in reality she was taking the orders of every new group of hungry humans walking in and randomly carrying out arm loads of food. I was really struck by how well she worked under pressure. The second night with the waitress was a much slower night in the restaurant but she caught me off guard again because she recognized we were there that busy night and remembered the table we sat at. At this point I felt that I needed to possibly switch up on a waitress and I was not nearly disappointed.
Me being a pretty precise carnivore that I am, I had no complaints about any of the meats I had the chance to try. From appetizers to desserts I was very pleased with everything that I tasted. Set aside from the peanuts they bring complimentary bread rolls, although the rolls are sweat freshly baked with butter they are deceiving to the stomach when finally eating the main course. For appetizers I was lucky to try some buffalo wings that will bring me back to eat a full plate of, and some bacon potato soup that was surprisingly exquisite. The three main course, I tried were; country-fried steak with mash potatoes and country gravy, BBQ ribs, and a filet mignon. Each time I ate dinner there I was not disappointed. I would go without eating all day just so I can leave full with a possibility of great leftovers.
hey maria i really liked your restaurant review of chipotle because although i've only been there once i got to admit that those burritos are delicious. i love the fact that anything you eat you know its going to be made to your customization. this is a great idea that chipotle does this because there is many people who will not eat at fast food places because they have a specific and rigid diet they must follow. however, chipotle allows those people to choose what they will eat and keep their diets intact.
ReplyDeleteOmar, this is very surprising to hear because we do usually hear people bad mouth the dining commons. I would like to go and taste a piece of pizza for myself and see if I experience the same delicious taste you did.
ReplyDelete@ramondoalexander: Whoa. Are you telling me there's better soul food in Bakersfield other than J's Place? I have to go there!
ReplyDeleteI read Maria's review of Chipotle Tejon Ranch. This review was great because she was specific as to everything that was put into her meal. She gave us a price which was comfortable to hear. Although I have been to one before, she made me want to visit this one.
ReplyDeleteI also read Ramondo's review of Fabious Corner. All the descriptions are very compelling. Because we are big on home cooking and BBQ, I am going to take my boyfriend right away.
Matthew!!! Not fair man, everyone is talking/reading about food and your going to start talking about Mexican food??? I am suprised no one heard my stomach growel yet.
ReplyDeleteRachel said...
ReplyDeleteJ's fried chicken and waffles - I've got to find this place. Made me remember living in Virginia. Everyone had their favorite chicken stand and you would drive an hour out of the way on the weekend if ya had to.
Matthew, thanks for making me crave Mexican food. too bad Santa Maria is 2 hours away from here.
ReplyDeletehey Vanessa your review was great. I haven't had Panda express in a long time so your review really made my mouth water. Kudos on your review :)
ReplyDeleteFrosty King has to be a great spot!!!
ReplyDelete@ Juan The review was great on how the ambiance is alwasy crowded, and how the service is quick to give the orders. I got to say Frosty King is the best place to eat a burger making me want to go today and get a King Burger or a Texas Cheeseburger which are also good there.
ReplyDeleteOmar you are right about the commons pizza it is pretty good.
ReplyDeleteHey good work Rich!!! The review flows really well. Great description about what exactly the food was.
ReplyDeletehey edgar i like your review eventhough im not so sure about wanting to eat vietnamese food. i have a sense that its not all that good....but since you describe it so good i think i might go try it sometime when i become tired of the ordinary pizza and burgers. so yeah that's a good restaurant review.
ReplyDelete@Rich: I'm pretty envious of the way you write & how easily you can pull the reader in. Awesome job! :P
ReplyDelete@Rachel: Your restaurant review is good and interesting because I have never heard of J's place restaurant and basic on your review, sound like that place is good for me to go there one day and makes me want to try some of the good food that you talk about.
ReplyDelete@maria: Your restaurant review interesting because Chipotle Tejon Ranch sound good to try and base on your review, it sounds like the food that you talk about is good to eat.
Rich thanx to you am now fighting to resist the hunger that you've caused!
ReplyDeletehey Fahd, i enjoyed reading your restaurant review,you got be in love garlic to go all the to Beverly Hills. good job on the assay :)
ReplyDeleteGuadalupe,
ReplyDeleteYour review on that "Juicy Burger" joint was really good. I liked the descriptive language use to describe the burgers and the ambiance of the restaurant. You got me sitting at the computer screen daydreaming about the burgers my big mama(grandma) made at our family pinics. Man o man. Now i got to get a burger after class lol.
I want to try Juicy Burger too cause i hate when i a order is placed and you tell them more than twice that you dont want pickles or mayo and at the end they still add those ingridients.
ReplyDelete@ omar your absolutly correct everyone loves pizza!!!
ReplyDeleteMatthew you now made me want to travel all the way to Santa Maria to visit that restaurant. Too bad i don't have a lot of time to travel.
ReplyDelete1st post:
ReplyDeleteShannon De Marah
Dr. Schmoll
Engl. 100
4 Apr 11
Restaurant Review
Elephant Bar
American, Western, and Pan Pacific Foods
The Atmosphere/Experience: There’s a new business in town. Well, it’s not a new business to me because Elephant Bar is everywhere in the bay area, but for Bakersfield it adds new flavor to this city. The building is eye catching with bright, red letters displaying its name from the outside. The faintness of the blue hue as I drive by eludes me, drawing me to its mystifying atmosphere. It was well worth the wait of having ever driven by and saying to myself, I’m going to eat here soon. The day is finally here that I get to enjoy such an enticing restaurant. The mystery is no longer a mystery, but an exotic experience. I first tried Elephant Bar in Atlanta, Georgia. I was quickly drawn to their motto, “The idea was simple; provide a comfortable and unique place to escape from the stress of everyday life, to relax and enjoy a fun, casual dining experience.” -David Nancarrow. And it’s all that and more. I have a pretty hectic work and school schedule; balancing meetings, returning a swarm of student emails, squeezing in time for my homework, and finally a social life. This was a perfect escape of reality; transforming into a mystifying realm of exotic and jungle like energy. I invited my good friend Roy to enjoy a pleasantly serene dinner. We are always together whether it is at school or at a social event so I thought it was the perfect night to escape both of our hectic lives. The ambiance and decor is very nice and allows for a very relaxing atmosphere. From the moment Roy and I enter the door, we are treated to a broad array of alluring exotic drinks and enticing foods... adventures in themselves. The exotic appeal of the interior decor creates a comfortable and enjoyable dining experience. When you enter the Elephant Bar you will immediately notice the pleasurable theme of the restaurant. It is decorated in a jungle oriented theme. A large rock is carved into the shape of an elephant behind the hostess station, it is dimly lit and with a blue hue that surrounds the bar; there is a mixture of tables and booths (mostly booths and sadly sort of packed in like sardines.) The tables and booths are situated so close together that there is no room for privacy or the lack of having a private conversation. It makes me feel like I’m actually sitting in the laps of the other guests; definitely something I do not appreciate. I expected the restaurant to have a third place environment and not be so thunderous like with the roar of constant chatter. I’ve noticed that if the timing is right the atmosphere can be really satisfying. Happy hour is a great time to have that satisfying experience. If chosen the latter part of the day, one could possibly wait twenty to forty five minutes to eat and enjoy social activity.
Arriving at Don Perico’s authentic Mexican restaurant and soaking in the atmosphere made me feel like I was in a small Mexican village. The casual attire was welcoming, even though it consisted of a variety of cultures. The walls were painted to look like an aged adobe building. Murals on the wall depicted Mexican art such as landscapes in Mexico and aged pottery. There were banners advertising some of the available cervezas and fake parrots that added to the ambiance. The smell of sizzling fajitas someone had just ordered, which passed right by us on a flaming hot skillet, was enough to make my mouth water.
ReplyDeleteMy partner and I were seated almost immediately in a booth and our drink orders were taken. We both choose iced tea and our refreshments were brought promptly along with hot tortilla chips and fresh salsa. With a dash of salt on the chips they were great by themselves but were paired perfectly with the chunky salsa. The salsa was great with the exploding flavor of the onions, tomato and cilantro. My partner was satisfied with the salsa just as it was prepared but I thought it could use a bit more heat just to kick it up a notch.
We decided to forego the list of appetizers which included everything from nachos ($7.75) to chicken wings ($7.50) and instead got our fill of delicious chips and salsa. The menu was filled with many appetizing entrees ranging from Carne Asada ($12.75) to Octopus ($11.95). Some items I did not recognize but the ingredients sounded enticing.
Although I was tempted by many of the options, including the many seafood items such as Empanizado (Red Snapper / $11.95, I could not forget that blast of sensory experience of when I first entered. Therefore, I ordered the Mixed Fajita Platter ($11.95) which included chicken and steak. I made sure to get a side salad with homemade ranch dressing just before my entrée arrived.
Continued...
ReplyDeleteMy partner ordered the Banderillas ($11.95), which consisted of marinated pieces of skewered chicken with onions, bell peppers and mushrooms sautéed in butter and a white wine sauce with beans and rice to complement it. By ordering the Banderillas she was straying from her normal order of Suizas Enchiladas but she ultimately decided to try something new.
After glancing at what others from different tables had ordered I began to have second thoughts but was still confident in my decision. The salads had arrived promptly and they were basically iceberg lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, olives, cheese and homemade ranch dressing. It was tasty but nothing to write home about. This plate was just making me more anxious for that sizzling, popping and smoking meal I had ordered.
While we waited on our main meals we sat and enjoyed the Mexican music and continued to nibble on our chips and salsa. The server was very attentive and refilled our drinks and supplied more fresh chips and salsa. At this point I decided to use the restroom which was located off to the side and was quite clean with a fresh scent. On my way back to the table I peeked into the cantina, which looked like a nice bar to enjoy some drink specials, such as Margaritas, and to take in a nice sporting event on television.
Not long after returning to the table, before actually seeing the server, I heard that distinguishing sound of flaming hot fajitas. Soon there it was in front of me on an iron stand, cautioned by the kind server “careful very hot senor”. He said the same of my partner’s plate.
The fajitas, garnished with onions, bell peppers, cilantro and a lemon wedge, was complimented with a plate of rice and refried beans, sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo. I cannot forget the flour tortillas, hot and fresh, to wrap it all together to form my own killer form of burrito. With the meat and peppers still simmering I took the lemon wedge and squeezed the juice over the meat to give it a bit of zest.
My partner was already digging into her plate of Banderillas, which she was very satisfied with. I got to sample a taste of her plate and I found them quite similar to fajitas but with a special addition of mushrooms, which I especially enjoyed. The presentation was very uniform as if they carefully glided the meat off the skewer over a bed of rice and mushrooms.
Overall, we had a superb dining experience at an affordable cost. The food was delicious, the server was attentive and the atmosphere was inviting. If I were to rate Don Perico’s on a ten-point scale I would give it an eight considering the overall service, quality of food and atmosphere. I would definitely recommend Don Perico’s as a place to enjoy a tasty Mexican dining experience.
I think in n out is really cool because they have a simple menu yet they also have a secret menu you can find online. For example, you can order burgers or fries "animal style" which is cool. Check it out.
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