Costa Rica Restaurant

The simply named Costa Rica Restaurant is located at 2500 West Lincoln Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92801.

We ate there on a Friday evening and were the only customers in the restaurant which was great because we had the opportunity to talk to the owner who is a very nice lady. My co-writer is knowledgable when it comes to Costa Rican food so we ordered Gallo Pinto which is a Costa Rican rice and black bean dish that is served with an egg on top. Also, we ordered Garlic Shrimp which came with a side of white rice and black beans. Both dishes were delicious, especially with the Salsa that the owner told us is commonly use as a condiment in Costa Rican Dishes. The salsa is not spicy at all and has a slight vinegar flavor but it is great over rice and beans. We also had plantains which were thick cut and served with a cream dipping sauce which tasted and resembled a thick sour cream. The plantains were sweet and tender and paired perfectly with the dipping sauce.

We had Imperial, a Costa Rican brand beer, with our dinner. The beer is light and has a similar taste to Coors. I would recommend that any person that enjoys beer try this one. It is very good.

Hint: Costa Rican food is very vegetarian friendly! The Gallo Pinto is a meatless dish and can be made without the egg so it is a great option for vegetarians.

Pink's Hot Dogs

My co-writer and I decided to try one of Pink's World Famous hot dogs at their Buena Park, Knott's Berry Farm location. The menu is very small at this location so do not go to this one if you are expecting to get the full Los Angeles location menu.
We tried the Knott's Monster-haunt dog (sp?) which was a foot long jalapeno hot dog (think: thick like a polish sausage) topped with bacon, chili, sour cream, relish, onions, and tomatoes. I will eat almost anything, but I tend to be a picky hot dog eater. My co-writer tried this one first ( a bite with no toppings, no bun) and was not impressed by the jalapeno flavor and the deceivingly spicy name of the not so spicy hot dog. I tried a bit with all the toppings and I have to say that it was very good. The toppings were messy, but that was expected after looking at the dog. The chili had a nice flavor to it and tasted great mixed with the sour cream.
The bacon was crisp and made a nice texture along with the raw onions under all of the other mushier toppings. Overall, the Monster Haunt dog tasted very good and I'd recommend it.

Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant

Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant is located next door to the Knott's Berry Farm Theme Park in Buena Park, California. The Restaurant is a sit down place that had a long wait for a table on the Thursday night we visited. Luckily, the restaurant has a take-out section next door. We decided to grab a three piece chicken dinner to go. While we were waiting for our fresh chicken to be prepared, we walked a couple of feet to the bakery and bought a boysenberry hand pie (like a big thick toaster pastry) . The pie crust was delicious and flaky, perfectly baked and covered in sugar. Instead of fruit, the pie filling had the consistency of (and suspiciously tasted like) boysenberry jam... and lots of it. I was expecting more fruit in a pie filling but this pie filling was not thick at all. There were many other desserts at the bakery so I would recommend trying one of the regular pies.
The chicken dinner came with fresh kernel sweet corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, two fresh baked biscuits with boysenberry jam. All of the sides were delicious, particularly the biscuits which were piping hot and tasted great with the jam. The corn and the potatoes were seasoned very well. The fried chicken was some of the best chicken I have ever tasted. The skin was very crisp and had a perfect amount of seasoning. The chicken was so hot and juicy. One three piece dinner was enough for me and the co-writer because we got a leg, a thigh and a huge breast. I don't know if all meals come this way so you may want to ask if these pieces are standard.

Note: Parking is difficult after the park closes. If you are not planning on going to the theme park, be prepared to circle the park a few times waiting for a car to give up a restaurant spot.

Jay Bee's Bar-be-que

Jay Bee's House of Fine BarBQue is a little unpretentious restaurant located at 15911 Avalon Blvd in Gardena, California.The building is tiny. There are no tables for customers to sit inside and a few bench seats outside. A short line forms outside the door and when you enter, there is a very small menu for you to choose from. The short menu was a good thing for us because it was easy for us to choose the pulled pork sandwich and pork ribs to try. The pulled pork sandwich came with two sides and we chose the baked beans and the cole slaw. We also ordered a side of barbecue spaghetti and macaroni and cheese.
The baked beans had a nice barbecue flavor to them and they were very tender. The macaroni and cheese was pretty good real cheese macaroni, no orange cheese sauce mess here. The barbecue spaghetti was nothing special to me. It was very straight forward well cooked spaghetti noodles with barbecue sauce mixed in. My co-writer loved the flavor of the barbecue spaghetti so I assume it may be something either you love or you don't. I would suggest that anyone eating at Jay Bee's give it a try because it is definitely different. Neither my co-worker nor I liked the coleslaw. It did not have enough mayonnaise or seasoning in it.
The pork ribs were tender and falling off the bone. The hot sauce was what we chose for both the ribs and the sandwich and it definitely tasted great on the ribs. The pulled pork sandwich was gigantic! There was so much meat and sauce that I couldn't even eat it sandwich style without the large chunks of meat falling out all over the place, so we ended up eating it with a knife and fork. The sandwich was DELICIOUS! Super spicy with the hot sauce so choose medium sauce if you have a sensitive tongue.
Overall: Good food, great service. Try the spaghetti but you will enjoy the pulled pork sandwich.

Palais De Jade

The Palais de Jade is a great Chinese restaurant in Reno, Nevada. The decor is nice and this restaurant visually looks to be a great place for sit down dining. I ate there on a Tuesday afternoon when there was only one other customer dining in the restaurant but several people were coming in to pick up carry-out orders.

The server taking my order was very nice, friendly and also very fast. I decided to order Szechuan shrimp and fried rice. It came very quickly and very hot. The vegetables and the Szechuan sauce were delicious. The shrimp was a little overcooked for my liking. The rice was very flavorful, enough that I didn't need to put soy sauce on it.

After I asked for the bill, the owner or manager came over to my table and asked me why I did not eat most of the shrimp. I was surprised that he was so involved in the operations of the restaurant that he cared what one customer thought about his food. He was very nice and explained how they cook their shrimp well in order to make sure that they are not in the least bit raw inside. I except this explanation, but as a food and restaurant critic, I still believe that the shrimp could have been cooked better.

The restaurant features a full bar with a wine list that i will try next time I go back to it. I would like to try more of the food so I will be returning here when I am in Reno again. The prices here are reasonable and prior to 3pm, they offer lunch specials that include an entree, soup, egg roll and a side.

Awful Awful Burger at the Little Nugget in Downtown Reno

Everytime I visited one of my friends at the University of Nevada Reno, I would always here about this big burger called an Awful Awful Burger. The name sounded interesting enough for me to want to give it a try so I went there after a night out downtown. The little diner inside of the Little Nugget Casino was pretty crowded because this is an after hours hot spot for young people in Reno. Although they do have an extensive diner menu, the diner is known for the Awful Awful.

We each ordered an Awful Awful at the counter and found a seat in the tiny seating area. The seating area was more in the casino area than in a restaurant The tables aren't very clean and the ambiance isn't very cute either. On the other hand, the food is delicious. The Awful Awful Burger comes sitting in a basket of French fries. The burger has sliced onions, tomato and lettuce on the side and comes on an onion bun. The burger is awful awful huge and awful awful good.

This restaurant is a must try if you are in downtown Reno, NV.

The Coffee Cup

The Coffee Cup is a great little diner in Boulder City, Nevada. Located about 30 minutes outside of the Strip, The Coffee Cup is a great place to visit if you want to get away from the long waits at all the local breakfast spots on Sunday mornings.

We started with a cinnamon Roll which was served with butter in a seperate dish on the side. Unfortunately, our roll was not hot so the icing wasn't drippy and the butter didn't melt easily, but it was very large and tasty none-the less. We also had a chile verde omelet and french toast both with a side of home fries. The french toast was delicious and the portion was very big. The potatoes were nice and crisp and were cut in slices. They were not overly seasoned so we added ketchup. The chile verde omelet was delicious! It wasn't overly spicy but it had a good amount of seasoning and spice. The omelet was fluffy and served in a big portion.

The service at this restaurant was great, from the second we entered, everyone was friendly and service was quick. The restaurant was featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives so if you are a follower of that show, and you are on the west coast, you have to check this place out!

The Original Pantry Cafe'

We went to the Original Pantry Cafe for late night eats while on a road trip to Los Angeles. Located on the 877 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90017, this diner has been open since the 1920's. It is cozy (read: tight) inside and the chairs have abnormally small seats. The late night menu is written on chalkboard walls above the tables (although there is a larger menu if you go there in the daytime).

We ordered a Philly cheesesteak and a BBQ pulled pork sandwich. The server brought two bowls, filled to the brim with cole slaw. The coleslaw was surprisingly tasty. Next, he brought a plate (containing what looked like half a loaf) of sourdough bread and butter.

The Philly Cheesesteak sandwhich was piled high with sliced beef and cheese. The pulled pork sandwich was full of deliciously seasasoned pork chunks covered with a tasty BBQ sauce. Each plate was framed with homestyle fries. Portions are very large so don't fill up on the coleslaw and bread.

This cafe is a great place to people watch late at night due to the fact that it is near several clubs. It's open 24-hours which we Las Vegans are used to, but it was actually difficult to find a late night dining spot in LA.

Note: This cafe does not take credit cards. CASH ONLY.

Mega Cafe

Located on the corner of Pecos and Tropicana, Mega Cafe is true to its name and serves mega sized portions of breakfast and lunch fare. The old Hollywood themed restaurant is open 7 days a week from 6 am-3pm.

My co-blogger and I both ordered breakfast entree's, a steak and wild mushroom omelette and french toast. The omelette came with two fluffy buttermilk pancakes and homestyle potatoes. The french toast included 3 slices of bacon and 3 eggs. The eggs and omeltte were very fluffy and took up a good portion of the oversized plates they are served on. The french toast was six large pieces (I could only eat 3!). The steak in the omeleet appeared to be actually be slices of pot roast and was full of flavor and paired well with the mushrooms.

This restaurant is never crowded and is a great option for breakfast and or lunch. Prices at this restaurant are good with most fare under $10.

Randy's Donuts

Randy's Donuts is known for the extremely large 3-D donut sign that has been seen in many movies. The actual store is located in Inglewood, California. The large donut actually dwarfs the little building that features a walk up window from which my co-blogger and I ordered a chocolate donut. The donut was very good, there is no doubt about that. The fact that this company is not a national chain makes the donuts even more of an interesting find. This place is a must see simply because of the architectural novelty. The delicious donuts you will find there are just an extra reward for your journey.

Kings Garden Chinese Retaurant

Kings Garden is located in the shopping plaza on the corner of Mountain Vista and Tropicana on the eastside of Las Vegas (4570 E. Tropicana Ave). This stand alone restaurant has a worn exterior and a odd diner style interior. When we entered the restaurant, we immediately face a counter , manned by a waitress who asks us to seat ourselves. She brought over menus and took our drink orders. She came back with our drinks and took our food order. We decided to try the dinner specials which include for $7.95: Egg drop soup, Fried Wontons, Crispy eggrolls and an entree with either white or Pork Fried Rice.

Our waitress brought the Egg Drop Soup to us first. It was very plain with just broth and egg. The lack of vegetables or seasoning was noticable. Next came the Fried Wontons and Egg Rolls hot out of the fryer and crunchy. We ate the Egg Rolls which were cleverly cut in half to make it easy to see the vegetable filling. We tasted the wonton but it was very bland and simply unseasoned, fried strips of wonton.

For the entree, I ordered the Shrimp Curry which was a creamy curry sauce with plenty of perfectly cooked full sized shrimp, crunchy green bell peppers, carrots and large pieces of onion. My co-blogger ordered shrimp with broccoli that also included mushrooms and carrots.The side of pork fried rice was a good sized portion and had a lot of flavor.

All of the food was brought to our table hot and right off the stove. There was very little wait time for the food because it was being cooked fresh immediately after we placed our order. Our waitress was the only server working in the small restaurant but she did a great job at providing us with enough attention, refilling our drinks as needed and bringing our food in great time.

The dinner specials are a great deal if you are on a budget. The entree's that we ordered were delicious. The Egg Rolls were great and the Egg Drop soup was pretty good after I doctored it up with some of the table seasonings.

Overall, I would recommend giving this little restaurant a try if you are in the area.

Cafe 95- Kingman Arizona

The food is good... Just good. Everything tastes homemade, and by that I mean it tastes just like I could have made it myself. The Belgian waffles taste like they are made from a mix and needed something extra like sugar. The 3 scrambled eggs lacked salt and are were not fluffy, so they looked like a small portion on the plate. The omelette was covered with half melted cheese and looked more like an egg pancake wrapped around some veggies.
Basically, everything We ate at this restaurant is o.k.
Note: The coffee bar is very good! Try the Almond Joy. It's an iced coffee that tastes just like an almond joy bar. Delicious!

Make your own cupcakery style cupcakes!

Ever wanted to try to make moist and delicious cupcakes? Well, here is my receipe for Vanilla Cupcakes:

1 package of French Vanilla cake mix (18.75oz)
1 box French vanilla pudding
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line two 12 cup cupcake pans with paper liners
Mix cake mix, cream, milk, oil, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Add pudding. scoop batter into each cupcake cup, filling two thirds full. Bake cupcakes until they are lightly golden

The Cupcakery

The Cupcakery is a storefront bakery located on Tenaya and Lake Mead Blvd., in Las Vegas, NV. As expected from the name, this bakery specializes in making cupcakes... lots of different kinds of cupcakes! The cupcake I tried on this trip was the Banana Cream Bomb. It is a white cake cupcake filled with banana pudding and covered with a cream frosting, banana chips and chocolate drizzles. My cupcake also had glitter on top! This was one of the best bakery cupcakes I have ever tried. Very moist, lots of flavor and very pretty. Cupcakes here are $3.00 each and once you try one, you will find that this is a good deal. All carryout cupcakes are served in a cute chinese take-out box with the store logo on the side.

The cupcakes are all full sized so one is enough for an average person for dessert or a snack. There were plenty of flavors to choose from including a delicious looking chocolate frosted vanilla cupcake called Oh, My Gosh Ganache! which I will try next time I go to the Cupcakery!

There are several locations of this store around town so be sure to check them out. As long as you love cake, you will be very happy with the cupcakes here.

Note: I was told by the person at the counter that you have to pre-order all sugar free cupcakes.

Hint: Go early and pick up a package of day-old cupcakes. These are sold at a discount and still look just as good as the fresh ones!

Introducing Eats, Drinks and Travels

This blog was created after unsuccesful attempts to find information and reviews on attractions, events and restaurants in Southern Nevada. My Co-Blogger and I have both written restaurant reviews on other websites such as Urbanspoon and City Search prior to undertaking this new review medium. This blog will allow us to not only discuss a bar, lounge or restaurant but also service, neighborhood, price, decor etc. All of these things are important to know when you are deciding where to dine or drink.

Another bonus of writing a blog is we can include other information in our blogs including recipes, pictures etc. One thing we will never do is compare two restaurants to one another. We will also avoid reviewing chain restaurants unless they are local chains. We will occasionally go outside of the Las Vegas area when we are traveling. Those blogs will include information about the city we visited as well as any local drinking or dining establishments we review.

Feel free to leave comments on any post. I hope you enjoy the blog!