I Have Burger News Ta Tell You

OK, I have to admit something I never thought I would. I've found a burger BETTER than In-N-Out. Yes, it's true. I've been a staunch In-N-Out Burger guy since high school. But there's a hot, juicy new burger that's taken my carnivorous heart. It is the Single Cheese Burger at 5 Guys Burgers . What is 5 Guys, you might ask? It's an East Coast chain that is just coming out here. I had seen them many times in Florida, but never stopped by. What a dummy I am!

7945 Haven, Rancho Cucamonga,CA 91730

(909)941-9055

Here's where 5 Guys makes my beloved In-N-Out second best. First of all, when you walk in, you are greeted by giant boxes of peanuts. Because the line for burgers in literally out the door, you'll have plenty of time to eat a handful.And in the wonderful Haitian tradition, you are expected to toss your shells on the floor. Any place that lets you toss peanut shells on the floor is my kinda' joint.

But back to the burgers. Not only are they fresh ground and cooked, but the topping list is insane.You can get the regular lettuce/tomato/onion/pickle combo, BUT WAIT..THERE'S MORE! You can get sautéed mushrooms, jalapeños, A-1 Steak Sauce, green peppers and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fresh cut Cajun fries as well. I had it on good authority to be sure to try them. Let me just tell you that the velocity with which those fries were inhaled makes me appreciate the body of work my source put into their research.

So if you want to fall in love all over again, you might venture to the N/E corner of Foothill & Haven, in the Terra Vista Towne Center. The restaurant faces out onto Haven. The place will be easy to find. It will have a line out the door,and peanut shells everywhere.

ENJOY!

GOOD FOOD, GREAT PRICE-WaBa TERIYAKI

Every now and again, you stumble across a good place to eat. At lunch today, our office manager, Tony Sevilla ,and I did some stumbling in Rancho Cucamonga. We thought we were walking into a new sushi place, but found had we read all the way to the bottom of the sign, we would have found WaBa Teriyaki. Nowhere in that is sushi mentioned. When we stopped to think about it, that made sense because they don't serve sushi. Luckily, they do serve some mean teriyaki.




9670 Haven #104
Rancho Cucamonga,CA
909-945-3241

The restaurant was very clean, open with a lot of light, and both indoor/outdoor seating. Because it's located in the middle of a good sized professional center, people watching goes well with either a teriyaki bowl or plate.That's a good thing, because that's all they serve. No need for anything else either. It's THAT kind of good. Going with the adage"No one likes to eat in an empty restaurant", there were a LOT of happy people. The food is served quickly, it's low in fat, and more food that $5-$7 should ever allow.

The only drawback is if you aren't stumbling,and actually want to find the place. You won't see it off of either 4th Street or Haven. It's tucked around the back of the N.W. corner of that intersection.

PHO HA IN RANCHO CUCAMONGA-Not Your Grandmother's Soup

OK, you're at the Foothill Village Shopping Center,on the Southeast corner of Foothill/Hellman, in Rancho Cucamonga. Oh, and you're hungry.



Do you...?



A) Go to Chuck E. Cheese and pay wayyyy too much for really bad food, or...



B) Look over your shoulder and find this ?

Pho Ha-Rancho Cucamonga
9319 Foothill Blvd. #C
Rancho Cucamonga,CA
909-980-7703
Read Yelp Review Here

Trust me when I tell you to leave all the petulant children, inattentive parents and annoying oversized rat, and run as fast as you can to the restaurant with the funny looking squiggly line over the "O" in Pho Ha(prounounce Fa Ha, or Fu Ha..I'm still not totally sure).

So now that I've saved you from the drudgery of The Cheese, let me tell you what Pho Ha is.
What it is NOT is not your grandmother's soup restaurant, unless your grandmother is Vietnamese. In which case, I'd like to be invited the next time she makes soup. What it is, is a very healthy beef or pork based soup. It is served piping hot with various thinly sliced pieces of meat. and noodles already in the soup. With it comes a plate of bean sprouts, lemon wedges and fresh mint sprigs. To it, you can add various sauces that are already bottled on your table.

In addition to the soups, there are a wide variety of other very tasty Vietnamese salads, spring rolls, sea foods, and Asian drinks you may not have tired, but should. All of them are very reasonably priced.

'A couple of warning for you. If you go on a weekend, plan on waiting. The place is generally packed and loud. It's not a place to take your prom date. But if you like very good, reasonably priced, ethnic food, by all means,go.

IF CHICKEN & WAFFLES SOUNDS TERRIBLE, YOU MIGHT BE FROM IOWA

I am...from Iowa, I mean. I love chicken, and there's nothing wrong with a good waffle. But if you grew up in The Mid-West, chances are you have never put the two together. It's kind of like Hall and Oats, bottles and water or sun and morning.... individually all of them are OK. But put them together and NOW you have something.

Chicken & waffles is a traditional Southern/soul food dish. If you happen to live anywhere in the greater Los Angeles basin( L.A., Long Beach or Pasadena), there's no better place than Roscoe's. It ain't fancy, but it sure is good. I've taken several friends there over the years.Almost to a person, they go with great hesitancy.. until dinner is served. The fried chicken comes either plain or smothered (that means with gravy for my Mid-Western brethren) and always piping hot. Without question, the waffles are the best I've ever eaten. I don't know how eggs, flour and water come out that good, but they do.

The side dishes are equally as good. The collard greens fresh and cooked with pork fat. A little Red Rooter Hot Sauce and vinegar makes them just right. For those that have not had authentic, down home mac & cheese, this is the time. Don't think Velveeta and pasta. It's something totally different. If you want to be a real glutton, get an order of hot water corn bread too.

If you plan on going at lunch or for a weekend dinner, also plan on waiting. Trust me, it's worth the wait.

KOBE BRYANT, GRAUMAN’S CHINESE THEATER, OZZIE OSBORNE & A PICKLED TONGUE SANDWICH ON RYE

Only in L.A. are all the things in this blog title possible to see in one afternoon. Well, sort of. My daughter wanted to see some star’s homes, so yesterday we made a day of it. If you enjoy watching humanity on parade, Grauman’s Chinese Theater is absolutely the place to be.

We started out there by looking at the stars on The Walk of Fame. While a sidewalk marker of Julia Roberts may be eye catching, the real show revolves around the people at eye level. There were wanna’ be’s, might be’s, and those that just want to be seen. You can go a block west, to the Hollywood Wax Museum and see very large candles that look frighteningly like Kobe Bryant, Snoop Dog or a host of other stars.

If shopping is more your thing, The Hollywood & Highland Center is just on the east side of Grauman’s. Personally, I’ll keep an eye on the parade of humanity while my wife and daughter shop.
From there, it was off to the Hollywood Hills to the star’s homes. Through Google, we found a semi-reliable list of stars. If you want to drive by Ozzie Osborne’s front gate, you can. Ditto for Madonna. But really, it looked a lot more like a big, giant hedge row to me.
Whether most of these people still live in the homes is anyone’s guess. However, if you want to find yourself lost in some beautiful areas of Los Angeles, it’s the way to go.
After working up a serious hunger, we drove east to the Fairfax District, and home to Canter’s Deli. Canter’s is a very historic part of L.A. It’s famous for it’s patrons, food and, well, being Canter’s. Always wanting to try ethnic foods, I opted for the pickled tongue sandwich on rye. If you’re not Jewish, this might sound bad. I’m not, and it wasn’t. In fact, it was very good. My wife had pastrami, and my daughter had a lox sandwich.

All were tasty and the bread was bakery fresh. The one negative I would say was the price. Three sandwich lunches with waters and ice tea ran over $50. Given the number of other Jewish delis in L.A., I would probably opt for a different one next time.

DAY TRIP TP OAK GLEN

Other than being a real estate/ mortgage broker, if I had it to do all over again, I’d be a food and travel reporter. That way, I’d get paid to do two things I really enjoy. But since I’m not, I’ll just blog about it instead.
I took my family and some friends to Oak Glen yesterday for a day of apple picking and exploring. If you’re not familiar with Oak Glen, it is located in the lower mountains above Yucaipa. It’s an easy, scenic drive. On they way up, we came to a stop while a group of horse back riders crossed the road. That set the tone for a wonderful day. We started out at Riley Farms. The Rileys own several different apple related businesses on Oak Glen Road. This stop was a family run, working apple farm. When we arrived, we were given all the apple pickin’ supplies we needed. These consisted of bags and an apple picking basket. From there, we were free to explore the grounds. What I found most interesting is that the Rileys live in a log home on the premises. The family and staff could not have been more friendly or helpful. Along with various kinds of apples, there are also several blue berry and black berry patches. You may want to bring gardening gloves if you are going to pick these. The only drawbacks we found were the berries had been pretty well picked over, and the apples were still quite small. But given the amount of fun we had, it was all worth it.

From there, we ate at Apple Annie’s in Oak Glen. Like everywhere in Oak Glen this time of year, it pays to get there early. The line starts forming about 11:00. Apple Annie’s is famous for their fried chicken, and it didn’t disappoint. The restaurant is located in Oak Tree Village. There are several shops, vendors, and most importantly…. the petting zoo. For $2, and an additional $1 for a cup of corn feed, we got to pet baby pigs, feed goats, sheep and emus. Once again, I was reminded what good, family fun is all about.
If you make the trip, let me know what you think.