Harold I.'s Profile

First Impressions:

When I first walked into Five Guys, I was a little bit surprised to find that the place is decorated very much the way an In-N-Out restaurant would be, and it's menu is similarly simplistic.  There are several more options for toppings, however.

The Food:

I had a cheeseburger, fries, and a drink.  I have to admit that I got excited when I watched the fresh, never-frozen beef patties hit the cooking surface.  It was clear that Five Guys had a different approach than most fast food burger joints.

When I received my food, I really enjoyed the fresh flavor of the entire cheeseburger, although I felt that the patty was a bit dried out and that they took "well-done" to a bit of an extreme.  In my opinion, the outside of a burger shouldn't have that crispy texture, although I know many people that would absolutely love this.

The french fries were awesome!  And even though I was pretty near full from the large burger, I couldn't stop eating the very addicting fries.  If you like fresh cut fries with skins intact that taste like a real potato, this is your place for sure!

Portions were on the large side, especially the fries.  Prices reflected this, though, so what would constitute your standard "combo" elsewhere came out to over $10.  Ouch!  I'll pay that for the occasional burger meal, but usually only at nostalgic and classic places.

Summary:

Even though I enjoyed the food at Five Guys, I couldn't help but think with every bite that I had somehow betrayed my dear Southern California.  For those who don't know, many iconic fast food burger restaurants were born in Southern California.

McDonald's (San Bernardino), In-N-Out (Baldwin Park), Tommy's (Los Angeles), Carl's Jr. (Anaheim, CA), and Jack in the Box (Long Beach) all owe their success to this burger-loving part of the world.  And to be honest, Five Guys felt to me like an intruder on the richness of the SoCal burger.  I mean, I haven't even mentioned those one-of-a-kind places that are all over this area (Apple Pan, Cassell's, etc.)!!!

But...I must admit, there's always room for another good burger.  That's what makes this place so great.  So my hats off to you, Five Guys, and best of luck.  You have what it takes, good burgers and great fries.  And the free peanuts don't hurt, either!

If I could, I'd award 3.5 stars here.  But alas, I cannot.

Rocket PIzza, why was I disappointed in you, oh let me count the ways.

1. No greeting or welcome at the door.  I overlooked this, at first.

2. Head waitress (if you even want to call her that), was this lady running around and flying about the entire restaurant at "ludicrous speed".  She was so quick to blow by our table that she wouldn't even stop walking to take our order.  This was ridiculous.

3. After we placed our order for a simple Hawaiian pizza...NOTHING.  Absolutely nothing happened.  15-20 minutes later we had no pizza, people who arrived after us were getting served, and the waitress who continuously was walking back and forth didn't even stop to tell use the status of our order.  Guess what: She FORGOT TO PLACE OUR ORDER.

4. It took another waitress to even realize this, and she came over to check on us and ensured us that she saw our pizza in the oven.  So we were at ease.  Guess what: THERE WAS NO PIZZA IN THE OVEN FOR US.

Okay, so this was absolutely a ridiculously bad experience.  My party was starving at the time and we could have just as easily stopped at Pitfire pizza (which is always delicious) or even Pete's cafe down the street.  We were short on time and ended up abandoning ship and had to leave the downtown area altogether because of other engagements.  Needless to say, I ended up having to stop at (gasp!) Jack in the Box.  At least they had better service.

Sorry Rocket Pizza, you ruined it for me.

Okay, so my buddy's family owns this chain, so I will try my best not to be biased.  Admittedly, it won't be easy.

The Hat is a great place to eat when you are starving hungry, and especially if you like things like pastrami and chili cheese fries.  I certainly do, and The Hat satisfies those cravings.

The portions are pretty intense all around.  I have tried the pastrami dip, pastrami burger, chili cheese fries and pretty much enjoyed all of them.  I also tried the gravy fries, but personally am not a fan of gravy in general, so I can't objectively state whether these are the best out there.  Actually, does anybody else even offer gravy fries?

I know this place is known for its pastrami sandwich, which is pretty delicious.  I have only had one better (your secret is safe with me, Mike's Hockey Burger pastrami special...oops), but you can't go wrong with the pastrami dip at The Hat.  Half of it falls out of the sandwich, which makes it perfect for picking it up with your bare hands (fingers) and providing your mouth with a deluge of warm, salty pastrami sans bread.  Nothing quenches your hunger better.

The pastrami burger...well, you pretty much have to be mad to eat this on your own, which I do only on rare occasion due to it's heft and food-coma inducing tendencies.  The burger as a standalone wouldn't delight my taste buds, but add tons of pastrami and they have a winner.

Finally, and unless you are a glutton for punishment, don't try to eat the chili cheese fries on your own.  Seriously, I think that these were designed to be shared amongst four people as a side dish to the pastrami dip.  Trying to take these on solo is, for most rookies--as well as some seasoned veterans--what I like to call gastronomic suicide.  But they are so tasty and fantastic that I sometimes abandon all common sense and suspend all disbelief in order to give it the Ol' College Try.

I was down in SD for a wedding with a group of friends and one of them recommended we stop for lunch at HH, and I'm glad that we did.  We were warned a little about the portion size, so my wife and I decided to share a scramble.  Farmhouse scramble #1, if I remember correctly, which was basically scrambled eggs with bacon and avocado.  It was served with a large biscuit and your choice of mashed potatoes or crispy potatoes.  We went mashed and they were amazingly delicious.  Mashed red potatoes with some skins intact, buttery and garlicky great.

The scramble itself was also fantastic, because of the delicious smoked bacon and plenty of avocado.  This was a great breakfast, but wait, there's more...

We also tried a blueberry-pecan HH pancake.  We thought it would be a nice thing to add to our shared meal, but little did we know how humongous it was going to be!  Man, this thing was like a large 12- or 14-inch pizza!  It took up the entire plate, was about 1/2" thick, and came loaded with fresh blueberries and pecans.  Topped with real butter and served with real maple syrup, it was one of the best pancakes I've had (and definitely the largest).  Needless to say, because of the huge portions, we did not finish the pancake.  I saw someone order the french toast...forget about it!  They might as well call it a French Loaf it's that big.

Now, regarding the coffee, it wasn't so great or even so hot.  But compared to how delicious everything else was, I can't complain too much about it.

All in all, it was a very pleasant experience.  Yes, the servings are very large, but not at the expense of quality.  This is not one of those places that serves huge portions of crappy food.  They serve huge portions of really tasty food and you ought to give it a try.

Casa Adelita in Norwalk is an okay place to grab a bite if you are really hungry and everything else around is closed.  They stay open very late, which has been the primary reason I have stopped here in the past.  I used to live very close by, so after a late night, I would stop by here with friends to grab a bite.

I have tried several items on the menu, but have settled on the Carne Asada torta (sandwich).  It's not the best out there, but it's decent and a great hunger buster.

This is one of those places that is not really great to me, but it isn't bad either, and the service has always been friendly (although perhaps not very attentive).  The quality of the food is middle of the road, and nothing to get too excited about.  A good alternative to one of those late night trips to Denny's because they're the only ones open so late.

Also, if you live in the area, you can call in and they will deliver your order.  If you get something like a torta, though, it's going to be soggy!  Just a friendly warning.  :)

Okay, I have to admit that I am a little dismayed that my friend M L beat me to the punch in reviewing this place.  I have been going to Tacos El Guero for at least 10 years now ever since I decided one day to give it a try.  Oh well, you can't always win...or can you?

Well, if you go to Tacos El Guero and order carne asada tacos, you CAN always win.  This is pretty much all that I ever get here, because their carne asada tacos are the best around.  And don't even think about mentioning King Taco or Tacos Mexico or any loser place like that--seriously.

I have tried some of their other stuff, too.  Al Pastor, lengua, chicken, etc., but pretty much I have settled on the carne asada as my meat of choice here because it is consistently good.

A couple of hints:

1. If you order only carne asada tacos (assuming you go on a busy day where there is an additional taco guy in front of the counter) you'll get better tacos.  The guy up front will make them, and they will be fresh and great.

2. If you order some kind of combo, or special non-taco item, it's coming from the back.  Who knows what goes on back there?  It will still taste good...

3. If you get your tacos to go, you MUST ask for no hot sauce on the tacos.  This way, your tacos won't get as soggy when you open them up from their tin foil wrapper.  But be absolutely sure to grab a few containers of hot sauce before you head out in a rush with your salsa-free tacos because you can't wait to eat them.

4. Eating in or taking out, help yourself to some cucumbers, and douse them in lime juice.  Very refreshing snack for those in the know.

5. If you like the sweet taste of "grilled" onions (actually, more like fried), ask for some on the side.  Free of charge with your purchase.

6. If you order just tacos and the extra guy is up front, hand him your ticket and he will tear his part of the order off.  Listen up for him to call your order (probably in Spanish).

7. Enjoy!

As other reviewers mentioned, this place has really friendly--and just as important, helpful--customer service.  I am sure that they won't be able to answer all of your questions, but they are more knowledgeable here than at the big box stores.

Due to their smaller size, their selection is a little bit limited, but I am actually pretty surprised that they seem to have most everything you would need to get the job done.  They don't seem to carry construction materials (lumber, pipe, etc.), or at least not in great quantities.

On the other hand, this is a great place to go to pick up something you forgot to buy on a trip to the big box stores.  Also, they will carry some things that are not practical for the big box to carry.  Mostly, I like this store for these main reasons:

1. Informed, friendly, and helpful staff.
2. Small size makes shopping quick.  You don't waste time walking around looking for stuff as much as you would elsewhere.
3. Local to my house, and closer than any big box place.
4. Generally reasonable prices.
5. Selection is decent considering smaller size.
6. Very willing to order something that they don't have in stock for you.  They are, after all, backed by a large nationwide chain.

This place opened up near my house, and for some reason I thought it was a barber shop.

Actually, they sell shaved ice desserts that are pretty darn good.  Obviously, the main thing they have going on is shaved ice with numerous flavored syrup options.  The ice is truly shaved, not crushed, and you can watch them shave the ice right in front of you with their machine.  The fine texture of the ice does a fantastic job of suspending the flavored syrup throughout the ice, without it immediately dropping down to the bottom (like on a cheap snow cone).

You can also get a small dollop of ice cream (you choose the flavor) on top of the shaved ice, which actually makes for a winning combination.  Speaking of combination: similar to Cold Stone, they have preset "combos" that you can choose from, or you can make your own.  For example one combo has half the ice with vanilla syrup, the other half with mocha syrup, and a bit of mint chocolate chip ice cream on top.  The interplay of the mint from the ice cream and the cold ice = refreshment at its best.

One pitfall (and thus no 5-star) is the price.  A "small" (although the portion is good) will run you nearly $4.50 if you elect to have some ice cream on it.  Considering that it is mostly ice and very little ice cream, it's hard to justify it being so expensive.  I always thought they charged a lot for ice cream because it's made with cream (a more expensive ingredient than water).  So I would expect them to be about a buck or two less than a Cold Stone dessert, but oh well, it still tasted good!

I would like to say that I stumbled upon this place by mere chance--as is often the case--but the reality is I listened to my fellow yelpers on this one and I am glad that I did.  So thank you for the thoughtful reviews!

Anyway, down to business: I came here for lunch with a coworker, and tried the milanesa sandwich.  For those who are not familiar, milanesa is a very thin beef steak that is breaded and fried, and is often used in Argentinian sandwiches (although you can eat it standalone like a normal steak, too).

Now, I have had numerous milanesa sandwiches over the years, and sometimes the beef will be chewy and hard; this sandwich was anything but.  The steak was very tender, easy to bite through, and delicious.  It was served on a roll that was toasty on the outside and soft on the inside, with tomato, lettuce, and mayo.  The portion of milanesa in the sandwich was more than enough, and I really enjoyed the sandwich.

I also tried one of the beef empanadas.  The crust was nice and flaky--just right.  I felt that the beef filling was under-seasoned, but overall it was a pretty good empanada.  My brother-in-law's mother makes really excellent Argentine empanadas, so I have been a bit spoiled in that category.

The decor inside was nice, they had a futbol match playing out on the TV (FC Barcelona against the cannon-fodder of the week), and the waiter was friendly.  We waited a good 15 minutes for our food, though, but I felt it was worth it after the first bite.

All in all, this is one of the better places I think to eat in Upland and I would recommend it.  A little pricey for lunch, but just right for dinner.  Go there now!

I am not sure why this place gets anything close to a good rating from other reviewers.  Perhaps I had a relatively bad experience because I stopped by on a Sunday afternoon and the place was basically dead.

I don't mind eating at a hole in the wall.  In fact, some of my favorite fast food places are hole-in-the-walls.  The problem here was the ambiance--or lack thereof--coupled with poor service and so-so food.

Environment -- very disorganized with random decorations set at random places.  Old projection TV set in a weird spot.  Chemical smell from bathroom.  Poor lighting.

Service -- our server was very apathetic and did not come off as very friendly.  One of our orders included taquitos, for which they ran out of guacamole.  What self-respecting Mexican restaurant runs out of avocados for guacamole?!?  Seriously?

Food -- my camarones estilo ranchero was actually pretty good.  On the spicy side, which isn't bad, but they also had camarones a la diabla, which is scary considering.  The shrimp weren't the absolute best, but they were large, decently fresh, and numerous.  I was happy with that.  The rice and potato salad on the side were good.  My wife's enchiladas were cold, though, which is definitely a no-no.  Considering the time it took to get the food, there is no excuse for cold enchiladas.

Summary -- I would probably not go back to this place.  There are many much better hole in the wall Mexican joints in Norwalk that surpass this place in all 3 categories listed above.