Viewing entries tagged
wings

The Wall - Orange County

February 19, 2017

With over 50 beers on tap, it's enough reasons to come back to try them all. Every month, The Wall launches a new "secret" burger. During the month of February, their #behindthewall burger is a chili cheeseburger stuffed with freshly battered onion rings, American cheddar cheese, peppadew peppers, an all beef juicy patty and chive cream.

Find them on 80 Plaza Sq Orange, CA 92866 at the roundabout.

Come thirsty, and with stretchy motherhood pants.

Their version of hot chicken over white bread served with house pickles.

Elote - Fresh corn with garlic aioli, cotija cheese, tajin.

Food items accompany beer really well. Items are tapas style so order a few plates to share with friends.

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Magnolia House - Pasadena

June 27, 2016

When people say Pasadena, the first thing I really think of is Old Town. It's until recently the past few years that people are starting to reach their endeavors elsewhere. The Paseo has really become that place along with the few around Colorado and El Molino. But to go even further, you now have Lake Ave booming with new restaurants and concepts. From Sunlife's Acai Bowls, to Sugar Fish by Chef Nozawa, you have classic old school fine dining like Smitty's and not so long ago Del Friscos that just made it's way on Lake about a year ago.

With that said, there's Magnolia House. It's tucked away on the corner of Lake and California. It's a great hang out spot for the local workaholics to get away after a dysfunctional 8-5. Trust me, I know a few.

Magnolia House launched a few cocktails that will sure help you escape the monotonous cycle of the case we call Monday's. But I like to just accept the fact that I will use any excuse to grab a drink.

I'm not a cocktail person, but I will honestly say I enjoyed each and every one of these sippers. I've been drinking old fashions pretty consistently lately as my beverage of choice. I would easily pick any one of these, especially a hot humid day like the ones we've been facing in LA.

These finger licking wings are available for Happy Hour. For $6, you get 3 pieces, fried and doused in Korean sweet and spicy sauce with a side of pickled chili cucumbers.

Beer Cheese sauce with vegetarian toppings. Vegetarians are safe as this contains no meat.

Local yellowtail, yuzu vinaigrette, Pickled red onions and micro shiso. Would love more citrus kick from the yuzu, but the portions of the yellowtail were generous and lump-sum. On the Happy Hour for $9, you get 3. Loved these bites.

The sweet onions are, obviously, caramelized and mixed with smoked gouda. Fried and served with a dipping sauce of greed goddess. Sounds pretty amazeballs to me. Happy Hour, $5 you get 3.

You can always find fresh oysters here as well. 6 for $16 (not on Happy Hour) served with mignonette, horseradish, and cocktail sauce. Get your afrodisiac on. It's always a great topic for conversation. Haha..

I say yes to everything pork belly. Don't even ask me. They use a heritage duroc pork served with cherry puree, pickled lady apple, frisee, and french breakfast radish. The pork was briny from the cure, but that fat is just melt in your mouth stuck in the back of your neck goodness. Paired nicely with the cherry puree, apples, radishes, frisee, basically everything to cut down the richness of the fat.

The brussells sprouts are cooked down with smoked bacon and tossed with a cilantro pistachio pesto. Topped off with a fried egg with Pecorino shavings. All vegetables need to be eaten this way.

Yup, you should plan your next happy hour accordingly. Remember to invite me when you do. Every excuse to drink remember? Happy grubs!

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Wood Ranch - Burbank

June 12, 2016

I attended a media event for Wood Ranch the past week at their newest location in Burbank. If you are familiar with this area, it is where the old Elephant Bar used to be. Shocking to see that they closed, but having Wood Ranch in the area made more sense. The location will officially open for dinner at 4 p.m. on Monday, June 13 and for lunch on Wednesday, June 22. So get ready to mark your calendars.

110 N. 1st Street Burbank CA 91502

Here are a glimpse of the food items we had that evening:

You have your fresh guacamole, salsa and chips. Killer wings (both buffalo and fiery). Their famous shredded onions which you can literally put on everything. There's absolutely no way your hands will be clean after this round.

We had a few salads to try. From their sides, a mountain of original peanut coleslaw. Their Tuscan Kale Salad composed of watermelon radishes, chives, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, golden raisins, toasted pumpkin seeds, shaved Parmesan, and tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette. Natalie's Salad - mixed greens, candied pecans, avocado, Gorgonzola crumbles, cucumber, balsamic vinaigrette. And their BBQ chopped salad with your choice of chicken or tri tip - Mixed greens, corn, black beans, Tillamook® Monterey jack, tortilla strips, tomato, carrots, scallions, cilantro, ranch, and Original BBQ sauce. Which one would you get? I liked the chopped salad because I'm a meat salad type of girl.

St. Louis Ribs are sweet & spicy, dry-rubbed & smoked. Served with a side of Original or chipotle-cherry BBQ sauce. I loved these ribs the most. I'm a huge fan of dry rubs and these were definitely fall off the bone tender.

These were center cut and hand trimmed, served with the original BBQ sauce. Sweet and tangy. These were also fall off the bone. You can see it by the shreds.

Wood Ranch Tri Tip and Fire Roasted Chicken.

They had some premium sides like grilled asparagus. Also signature sides like sweet potato mash, and Mac & Cheese.

At the Burbank location, there are a few exclusive items you'll find here, and only here.

The Ultimate BBQ Sandwich. A stack of Carolina Pulled Pork w. Carolina Slaw, Double RRanch® Brisket topped with Tillamook Swiss®, wood-grilled premium kielbasa (spicy smoky sausage), charred jalapeño, Famous Shredded Onions on a freshly baked brioche bun. Choose any barbecue sauce on the side. Good luck taking a bite of this. I had no problem... but a warning in case your jaw gets stuck.

Premium, juicy chicken thigh, brined overnight in buttermilk and spices, then coated with their specially-seasoned mix.Fried to order and topped with their Peanut-Cilantro Slaw on a freshly baked brioche bun. A large sandwich. Crispy and delicious. Good luck headed towards the gym after.

Bar Area Special during Happy hour, Momday-Friday 3-6pm. These are their Smoked Pulled Pork Nachos. For $6, this is definitely a steal. Carolina Pulled Pork, Tillamook Monterey jack® and cheddar cheeses, black beans, chopped jalapeño, salsa, house-made guacamole and sour cream.

Save room for dessert:

Graham Cracker crust cheesecake with raspberry sauce and their Oreo Cookie crunch - Vanilla bean ice cream rolled by hand in ground.

Make sure you check them out!

110 N. 1st Street Burbank CA 91502

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The Counter Burger - Pasadena

June 1, 2016

I've been going to The Counter Burger for over 7 years now. I would also add that it was my first gourmet burger I've ever had. Now that I work up the street on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, The Counter is literally within my reach whenever I want it. It's crazy. And I've been on this burger diet last year where all I ate was mostly that. I'm not sure if it was a phase. But I think it's just all the people telling me how crazy I was to eat burgers constantly. Get this straight. There is no judge zones when it comes to eating. If I want a damn burger, I will get me a damn burger!

Their new menu no longer comes in a binder. It is now as you can see, a laminate menu printed on both sides. The build your own burger is still available, but they cut down on the ingredients that were available to make the building less complicated, and more realistic. Like really, do you really need 10 items on your burger? Might as well go down the street to Souplantation if you just want to fill your cup. Make it quick, make it simple.

The Counter Burger has other locations, please click "Here" to find one near you.

Tater Tots with Pimento Cheese and BACON

If you've never had Pimento Cheese, obviously you need to try it. But to have it served with tater tots becomes a whole new ball game. You definitely want to eat these with a fork to get the biggest bite possible. Portions are great to share.

The first bite is sweet, spicy, and tangy. The heat will slowly creep up. And next thing you know it, you are craving for the next one. It's not as spicy as you think they'll be, but they do pack a good punch of flavor in each bite. Don't worry about napkins. It's all finger licking and sucking at this point.

This item is also on their new menu. Monster lump crab meat, diced eggs, bacon over bacon, roasted red peppers, green onions and spring mix to make you feel better about yourself. Served with a honey mustard dressing, but of course you can always ask for something else. This was $18, but well worth it. I'll say it again, HUGE lumps of crab. I also loved the diced eggs and tomatoes. This was very fun to eat.

They put the chicken in a buttermilk brine. Served with jalapeno jack, tomatoes, sliced Jalapenos, coleslaw, honey dijon all sandwiched between a brioche bun. Jalapenos are frightening. There are days where it wouldn't do much, but there are days it will totally destroy my stomach and bottom after a few hours. This was spicy when I had it, just the way I like it. If you want to give it a spicier punch, ask them for buffalo sauce or something instead of honey mustard. A bleu cheese dressing sounds delicious too.

Last but not least, 2 milkshakes to put out the butt fire. Strawberry Banana and Nutella. YUM. I love milkshakes. They really do make me feel like a kid because we didn't grow up drinking these. So to have it was definitely a treat.

There are also a few new items on their menu. Feel free to ask the staff about them.

Pasadena:

140 Shoppers Lane, Pasadena CA 91101

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The Fat Dog - Pau & Johnny - Part 2

March 1, 2016

To continue from Part 1 where Pau, Johnny and I were hanging out at the Idle Hour, we decided to make our way to The Fat Dog.

11050 Magnolia Blvd - North Hollywood, CA 91601

After having a liquid brunch, we were literally turning into Zombies with no sense of direction. I mean, Pau literally lunged to the streets without looking and stopped traffic with her super powers as we trickled behind her. She was on a mission. A mission for Swedish meatballs.

I love it. I went to tinkle and came out with food already on the way. Since we were just snacking, they do have some fun nibbles that are worth to try. Let's start with the sliders shall we.

Any beer loving fiend would love cheeseburgers of all sizes. These little decadent-pinky-worth buns with bacon, meat, cheese and guacamole can keep you fixated with your eyes crossed for a good minute.

Comes with fries. But, I would order more for other reasons I will share with you in a bit. But deng, I just love finger foods so much. I don't count calories, but I do think about the amount of food I consume at the end of the day. So little bites like these (x's 54674861231) makes me extremely happy because that means I can try more food. And who, who, does not want to try more food? For goodness sake. Look how delightful Johnny looks in the back enjoying a bite of a mysterious item. I swear it wasn't candid at all.

I really... really.. enjoyed these wings a lot. I'm not sure if it was from all the beer I drank, but these were zippy. It felt almost as if the wings were marinated in buffalo sauce or rub, and then deep fried. I really don't know how they did it, but it reminds me of dry rubbed ribs. Served with celery and carrots, with their house bleu cheese dipping sauce. Thumbs up. I am ready to come back for this one.

If you love IKEA Swedish Meatballs, you will love the ones at the Fat Dog. Served in a heapfull, there are plenty of reasons to share. There's nothing fancy with this dish as there is nothing fancy at the ones you would find at IKEA. But, these are comforting as F#$k as they should be. This is where the extra fries would play along. Or, just order the fries with this gravy and lingonberry sauce to top off. Money.

I will be back really soon because there were still a lot of items I would like to try. Love you Pau & Johnny dearly.

Until next time. Eat & Drink responsibility.

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Wine & Dine

The Wall - Orange County

Magnolia House - Pasadena

Wood Ranch - Burbank

The Counter Burger - Pasadena

The Fat Dog - Pau & Johnny - Part 2