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.