Del Mar Baja Taco aka Taco Del Mar (June 8, 2009)

I haven't done the best job of updating this blog. I think "bloody fucking awful" in the voice of Gordon Ramsay is a better way of putting it.

Since my last post a lot has happened in my life. I now live in Virginia, well, Northern Virginia to be specific. I had to specify this as this state overlaps through three different and distinct regions of the United States. Richmond and Hampton Roads are clearly a part of the south, everything to the left of Interstate 81 is Appalachia and where I am is culturally mid-Atlantic/Bos-Wash/Northeast. And from what I can see, everyone from each of these regions have a deep contempt for each other. The borders here are really amazing and confusing. I can drive roughly seven hours northeast and (without traffic) reach Boston, MA. Conversely, I can do the same and still remain in Virginia, almost to the Kentucky Border. Crazy? I think so.

Once again I'm forgetting that this blog is about food.

I had planned on eating at Taco Del Mar for some time now. The review on tesg's website left me curious to try it but I had never been anywhere near one. The chain seems to be in the same boat as Qdoba, Chipotle, Pancheros, etc. and I was ecstatic to find out that I was now in the same area as Taco Del Mar in Annandale, VA.

Now of course I had to run into an obstacle in the form of finding the damn place. Weeks ago, I attempted to find this restaurant but, unknown at the time, took the wrong exit off of the beltway. I ended up in "little Seoul" where literally every sign was in Korean. Frustrated, I gave up on my conquest, hopped on I-66 and went to Pancheros instead - only to find out that I took one exit too soon later on that day.

So today, I took the right exit and it led me to the "Bradlick Shopping Center", which appropriately named for its intersection at Braddock and Backlick roads. I find that distinct combination of those street names to be very unsettling.

When I reached the cramped and dated shopping center, I had a hell of a time finding the place; partly due to someone tailing my ass as I was browsing the storefront signs. Initially I couldn't find it, became aggravated and was ready to give up and go to Pancheros again in Centreville. I began to drive away until I decided to pull into a random church parking lot and do further research on my trusty Samsung Instinct. Low and behold the website still showed the location being at the "Bradlick Shopping center." I go back, again, look at all of the storefronts all at once. From a new perspective I see a place that I overlooked reading "Del Mar." Immediately my hopes begin to drop as I was beginning to think that this was nothing but a local Mexican place.

Upon a closer look of the place I found the typical Taco Del Mar ads on the storefront windows, and it was down to business. There must of been a lawsuit with an older restaurant in the area named Taco Del Mar. This was apparent with the Waffle Houses (homes?) in Indiana that are named Waffle & Steak.

Ironically, the only parking spot open was in front of Gold's Gym, of all places.

I entered inside the place. It was very claustrophobic and cramped for a five dollar burrito joint. I found the decor a bit cheesey with the surfboards and beach theme, especially in a strip mall in Northern Virginia. I had a wash of my hands and then proceeded to the counter. The menu layout is standard fare in the 5 dollar burrito world though the menu includes combos, fish tacos and enchiladas. I ordered a "mondo burrito" and upped it to a combo, which entitled me to tortilla chips and a drink.

The setup is of the typical assembly line format. We've all seen this so I won't explain any further. One unique thing about this place is that the only rice available is Mexican Rice.. I usually prefer white rice on my burrito. The lady working was skimpy on the toppings, so skimpy that I was fearful of asking for more in fear of being charged extra. The manager rang me up and asked if I was a first time customer. This also entitled me to a free side of queso that looked like diluted "nuke and serve" nacho cheese straight from a ballpark concession stand. Thanks?

The burrito wasn't too bad, but small/skimpy. The chips were awful, salty little circles that were literally taken out of a supermarket-brand bag. Completely unacceptable, considering that most of these restaurants make their chips on site. The queso wasn't too bad, the salsa was better than anything at Baja Fresh, which in all honesty isn't a hard feat to accomplish. However, the burrito tortilla was of the freshly-pressed-Panchero's kind and tasted decent. Though strangely enough, I don't recall ever seeing a tortilla presser in the kitchen.

All in all, I paid $8-9 for a meal that was sub-par. I found that the place was having an identity crisis. Cups display "Taco Del Mar" while signs tell you otherwise. Kind of haphazard, if you ask me.

Kind of similar to what my new home state has gone, and will continue to go, through.

Golden Corral + Update (September 26, 2008)

Today, while lounging around on my day off from school, I unusually wasn't craving any Tex-Mexican (or should I say "Texican".. hmm), Italian, Middle Eastern, or Indian food for lunch. I was actually craving something kind of... American. Moreso, I was craving all you can eat American. Scanning over places in the Bloomington area to eat at, a huge lightbulb went off when I reached the idea to try out Golden Corral for the first time.

I had my reservations though. A friend of mine told me that his mother always feels "dirty" after eating there. Actually enough, this made curious to see just how "dirty" I would feel after eating there. For anyone who doesn't know the meaning of "dirty" in this context, just think of how you feel after you overeat at an Old Country Buffet. The feeling you have afterwards is a prime example of "dirty."

Arriving inside, I had to observe the scene at first before making my first move. The setup is a little different from a normal restaurant; you grab a tray/utensils, someone gets you a drink and then you pay $10.38, if you get that drink they offer you. The grumpy lady at the counter then gives you your plate and then you find a seat. I was a little concerned after the last step as that one plate kind of implied that this wasn't an all you can eat buffet, but a sign reassured me that this was a typical stuff-your-face establishment. Sweet.

The place is styled like a Bob Evans or a Culver's. Warm, greeny tones and carpeted floors. The decor kind of gives off a "down on the farm"/"Americana" feeling. The place itself, however, is configured like a college dorm cafeteria. Open ceelings and several stations to get different types of food.

This week at this location, it was meat lover's week (or something to that extent). So there was a plethora of meat items out. Overall, while scoping out the food, I noticed the quality looked very hit or miss. I did not want to try the "miss" foods, so I stuck with food that looked visually appealing. Among the things I remember getting during this trip were: rice pilaf, corn, "Awesome pot roast", burbon street chicken, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, a mini-burger, barbecued pulled pork, shrimp poppers and stuffing. It all sounds like a lot but each of those were in sample-sized portions. I wanted to get a good idea about everything.

Upon returning to my seat, I noticed that a waitress already noticed my existence and gave me two extra plates and, as if my food wasn't enough, bread with honey butter. The bread actually looked appetizing and didn't fail to disappoint me at all. It was warm, soft and tasted phenominal with the honey butter provided. It was probably the only thing that was truly remarkable about this place.

The food was, like the appearance of the foods on the buffet: hit or miss. Overall though, it was decent. The rice, mashed potatoes and corn were all decent, you can't really screw that up. The "Awesome Pot Roast" wasn't awesome at all, in fact parts of it was leathery. The burbon street chicken was straight from a mall food court and the stuffing was straight from a Stove Top box. The mini burger was great, all two bites of it. The pulled pork was great, along the shrimp poppers. Those were the only two items from the mainline that I ended up getting on the next trip.

The next trip, as I said, I ended up only getting some more shrimp and pulled pork. The elaborate dessert bar was calling me, so I opted out on getting more food. Quite frankly, that was a good option as most of the other items didn't look pleasing. Specifically, the pizza looked absolutely stale and disgusting.

The dessert bar was huge and stocked with many different cakes, cookies and ice cream. I ended up getting a slice of chocolate cake, a slice of a cookie cake and a little brownie. Amongst the dessert items, the slice of chocolate cake was the only dessert out of the three items that I finished. The brownie was bland, sugary and uninspired. The cookie cake had a weird peanut butter taste that wasn't jiving with me.

Actually, aside from the bread, a lot of things weren't jiving with me there. For one, I was definitely the youngest person in there and I am 22 years old. Granted, it was a Friday during lunch hour. Specifically, there were a lot of senior citizens and upon leaving, I found out why: they get 3 bucks off their meals. Socialism at its finest.

My "waitress" was good with refilling my drinks, so I left her two dollars as a tip. There's a sign as you saying that it's customary to tip for good service and I was in a relatively good mood and felt like bumping my meal up to restaurant quality, even if it wasn't nearly as good.

So, now the true test comes. I did feel dirty afterwards but not nearly as dirty as I usually feel while leaving an Old Country Buffet or any Chinese buffet. It was roughly around a "Steak and Shake" level, maybe actually a little lower as the food wasn't as greasy. That and I ate somewhat (and I stress somewhat) moderately: never fully cleaning my plate each time.

Golden Corral is definitely one of those "once in a while" restaurants. That's really all I have to say about them

-------------------

Update: As of today, three restaurants I have review have closed. El Morocco, Garam Masala and now, Billy's Chicago Place. In all honesty, I wasn't too surprised about Billy's, considering our economy right now. In all honesty, this just isn't a great time to be running a small business and with the catastrophe that is our lending market right now, everyone is taking numerous blows.. except for those CEOs of course. Billy's also didn't advertise aggressively enough and their demographics seemed to be limited to those from the Chicago area.

Nevertheless, this is a just example proving that we're reaching tough times. Tough times. But I'm sure we'll eventually get through them all.

Panera Bread (August 14, 2008)

There are now two Paneras in my area. The one that I usually visit is in a crowded strip mall with limited parking. It's almost always packed. The strip mall sits across one of the city's prep schools and during a school year lunch time, it is packed with snobby high school age kids that are loud and borderline belligerent. A new one recently opened up a bit closer to me and it is probably the only Panera I've seen with a drive-thru. Being the anti-social person I am, I was excited for this and headed out to try an interesting menu item: the strawberry poppy salad.

So I drive to the new one, pull up to the drive thru and look for what I want to order. I ask for a minute when I'm badgered for my order through the speaker by an angry sounding girl, to which she, sounding frustrated, lets me have one. I search for my salad, and low and behold it's not on the damn menu board!

Now I'm frustrated and I pull away without even ordering. I know the salad is a "regional" item but I wasn't expecting Panera's regions to be ridiculously small because, of course, the usual Panera I visit had the salad - and they made damn sure that anyone entering the building knew of its existence through large advertisements. Even though the salad I wanted was there, I was still a little bothered because I had to actually go inside and interact with humans in a face to face manner for more than a mere second due to the absence of a drive-thru. Dammit.

So I get out and then walk into this high class location dressed like a complete slob with my gym shorts hanging low, my wrinkled polo shirt showing evidence that hadn't been washed in a week or so and with my flip flops clacking on the floor. I wait in line, wait and wait until the people at one of the two open registers finish ordering and paying. I begin to advance forward but the counter girl scoots away, though she assures that she'll help me in a second.

Counter girl comes back, smiles and asks for my order. Counter girl's name was actually "Billie" as evidenced by her self-made name tag that the Panera gods make her wear on a daily basis. Upon seeing that, this is what immediately popped into my head:



I could of broken into song, but decided to not make a total fool out of myself.

I ordered my salad (with chicken - $1.59 extra..) and a cup of french onion soup. Both things came with a choice of bread, chips or an apple. I got bread with both of those. Billie asked me if I wanted a $ .99 cookie twice, and I declined. I also declined her offer of getting the 1/2 and 1/2 deal - seeing how my appetite would probably not be satisfied if I went with that option. However, she didn't mind and still had a teethy smile on her face. She was kind of cute: bubbly type and the smile on her face actually seemed genuine. There seems to be a shortage of girls that in this world.

The price? $14.45 with a regular sized soft drink. Ouch.

After realizing I was an idiot for not getting the 1/2 and 1/2 combo, I filled up my drink, sat down at a table and watched the clientele for today. Not a lot of the usual prep school students, there were only a few: a guy and his girlfriend cuddling in a booth.. ah to be 16 again.. I saw two "alternative" girls as well, one of them was wearing a fauxhawk on her had that was straight from 2004. And then there were some old people. A lot of old people actually. I got lost into my usual act of people watching until my buzzer thingy basically scared the living crap out of me, telling me that I had to get my overpriced food.

The salad? Good. Interesting. Though I could easily replicate this at home for a cheaper price. The only thing I probably couldn't find in a local market would be their poppy seed dressing but a raspberry vinaigrette would be just as good, if not better.

The soup? Salty, but satisfying. Not enough cheese but I'm trying to start my diet. The croutouns inside only add to the saltiness. Bleck.. I needed some more diet pepsi after that to wash away all the salt in my mouth.

Was it all worth 14.45? Not really, no.

So I felt cheated as I left. I didn't get to order what I wanted at the original Panera I set out to visit, I didn't get to get my meal through the drive through, as I had originally planned, and I wasted almost fifteen bucks on a meal that was worth around eight or nine even.

I should be angry, fuming and boycotting the place but I'm not.

In fact, I'll probably be back again to do some more people watching.

Red Burrito (July 21, 2008)

Unfortunately this isn't the actual one I visited today.

Red Burrito is the "Hardee's market" version of Green Burrito. Green Burrito is usually co-branded with Carl's Jr. Hardee's, Red, Green and Carl's are all owned by CKE - Carl Karcher Enterprises. Sounds complicated? It is. Kind of.

The actual location I visited today was remodeled extensively with the new decor. However, the building clearly tells a story from the times when the building was a regular (non CKE owned) Hardee's and probably prior to the 80s, a Burger Chef. A lot of Hardee's locations seem to have a story to tell around this area. A great web page that tells the tumultuous history of Hardee's can be found here.

Today, I ordered a grilled chicken burrito combo and one taco. It came to $8.04. Red burrito is unique in that a combo is basically a platter with tortilla chips, mexican rice and refried beans. My food came out relatively quick and I began to eat.

I started out with the taco. The shell basically split in half after I took the first bite and lettuce and cheese flew everywhere. The taco resembled Taco John's in that a generous amount of taco beef was stocked with a layer of taco sauce and the taco was a mess like a Taco John's taco. Too bad there weren't any Potato Ole's though. It was decent though. A little more gourmet than Taco Bell but not as tasty as Taco John's.

Next I moved on to the platter. The Mexican rice reminded me of the old Mexican rice my high school used to serve. Eating that, I had displeasing memories of High School and wanted to finish that as fast as I could. The refried beans were great, and I usually don't even eat refried beans. The beans were nice and placebo-like, no overly unpleasant "beany" taste to it at all. I used the beans primarily as a dip for my chips. I tried the complementary "salsa bar", got the "hot sauce" and it tasted like a spicy ketchup. Gross.

The burrito was something similar to what you would get at Baja Fresh. You don't eat it with your hands, you use a fork and knife. The chicken was decent and had a lime-onion taste, the filling were decent overall. I finished it all in no time.

Really, that's all Red Burrito is - decent. Not too bad, not too great. If I had one closer to me, I would probably eat there more times a year but I really don't an agenda to go back to another co-branded establishment, other than to eat Hardee's. Green Burrito is apparently the same deal, but I'd like to see how the Carl's side of things work. Usually, it's much better.

Yep, decent. That's all I have to say about that.

CiCi's Pizza (June 23, 2008)

With a slogan of "too good to be true", skepticism is virtually guaranteed. A lot of things are "too good to be true" about this place:

1. The price of their pizza buffet alone (sans drink) is roughly $5
2. You don't really get what you pay for - you get MUCH more.

It's a mystery at how CiCi's exists and survives but there are some answers to that question that I'll address in a bit. But for readers (as sparse as they are) that are unfamiliar with this spotty chain of pizza restaurants, I'll describe my visit to this establishment today.

Today I drove to my usual place of 86th and Michigan - "the crossroads." I was debating on either going to Skyline Chili, Chipotle or CiCi's. As I was driving, I weighed each option in my head and ultimately decided to go with CiCi's due to two factors: price and cravings. CiCi's was the cheapest and I decided that I was craving pizza rather than Cincinnati chili or a burrito.

I pulled into the strip mall where CiCi's is located and it's a depressing sight. Many vacant storefronts with "FOR SALE" signs exist. The strip is anchored by a big and looming Wal-Mart hypermarket that ascetically looks to be about 20 years ahead of the rest of the strip. Depressing. These type of strip malls are where the vast majority of CiCi's pizza joints are located.

I went inside at 11:ooA on the dot and the door was already opened and I was greeted by Mr. Manager. Mr. Manager wished me a good morning and sold me into getting a large, thermos, take-out-ready drink for $ .20 more instead of the usual. Price only came to $ 7.69.

CiCi's isn't your typical pizza parlor. It's centered around a buffet concept rather than a restaurant concept. It's entirely self-serve as well. You can order a pizza to go and it's dirt cheap and I'm talking Little Ceasars cheap (there are some strange parallels between the two chains that I'll discuss momentarily). Unlike the usual pizza buffets you get at Pizza Hut that are small, stale and not so great, CiCi's is large with roughly 7-10 pies and specialty items such as breadsticks, cheese bread, calzones, desserts. It's heaven, basically.

The pizzas weren't quite done baking when I arrived but they turned over rather quickly and were on the front line in no time at all. Unlike other pizza buffets, CiCi's serves traditional pepperoni Sicilian pizza (deep dish with sauce on top) alongside traditional pies. Slices of those, along with the amazing garlic cheese breadsticks, are a highlight of the whole buffet. Their pizza on the other hand is pretty cheap and standard. Very similar Little Ceasars Pizza in how the sauce is semi-sweet, though CiCi's crust is more on the thin side.

CiCi's is also unique in that they put some pizzas with some wacky pizza toppings such as Macaroni and Cheese, Taco pizza, and several pizzas with Alfredo sauce. Pasta is also served though my experience with their pasta has never been memorable. Oh, and salad is there too for you health nuts that shouldn't be anywhere NEAR CiCi's in the first place. Desert is usually out too - brownies, cinnamon rolls and apple pie pizza. On this visit, I threw in the towel before even making it to desert as I had loaded my plate with the pepperoni sicillian and garlic sticks. Mmm..

CiCi's seems to be doing something right. New locations are springing up everwhere. Humorous advertisements are now rampant on network TV featuring some sort of a weird motivational voice egging on a customer using the massive buffet at a typical CiCi's pizza joint. And they drive the message home - it's all under five dollars. This really is a dream come true for a lot of people who want what a lot of good tasting pizza and et cetera (all you can eat) for the same price as a small pizza elsewhere. Why has this business model worked?

Well, it's all because of a few things:
1. The ingredients. Dead give away. Cheaper ingredients helps their mission greatly.
2. The locations. If you've been into a CiCi's before, it probably wasn't in the greatest area of town. But that helps the franchisees immensely with rent issues and also spares them the need to build a freestanding restaurant. This has helped them drive down prices and allowed them to reduce operating expenses. Every CiCi's I've seen has been in a strip mall that has been, at least, partially dilapidated in some form.
3. The Clientele. Who doesn't want cheap pizza? And an endless buffet of pizza for under $5 attracts anyone from college students swimming in federal debt to various demographics that can't afford to make a sufficient enough meal for a large family.

Like Southwest Airlines was in the aviation industry, CiCi's a good business model for the pizza industry. It's no wonder why they're growing rampanty across the midwest and the south. However, the chain has avoided some areas such as most of New England and the West Coast states. I can see those areas being very "hit or miss" for this business model. Plus there's more competition: noticeably out West where Round Table Pizza and the national chains have a devout following.

Nevertheless, CiCi's has transformed itself into a staple that many people have grown to appreciate immensely. It almost seems as if there's never a time where there are no less than a handful in the dining area. Two men came in literally right after I did, and it wasn't even the "prime time" of the daily lunch period.

That just goes to show you that a cheap, large pizza buffet goes a long way with everyone.

Various Updates (June 12, 2008)

Well, two of the restaurants that I have reviewed in the past year have recently ceased operations:

El Morocco
Garam Masala.

I was a bit surprised about El Morocco closing considering the relatively large following the restaurant had. It must be a change of times, as people are allocating more money towards gasoline rather than a $60 dinner for two. For the record, gas is $4.19/gal here in Bloomington.

Garam Masala's closing also surprised me a bit. The buffet was awesome and the crowd eating there was primarily Indians/Pakis/Nepalis/Bengalis. The place got business but I think the guy running the place may have violated some health codes. When I took my mother there last year for the Fourth of July, she shrieked in horror when she found a roach on the back of the owner's shirt as he was walking back towards the kitchen. GM's closing pissed me off, because that was the closest Indian restaurant to home that wasn't absolutely horrid. However, India Garden in Broadripple is always worth the long drive.

King Kabob has since renamed to "Gyro 'N Kabob." After that review, I went back for a second visit and had a nasty chicken kabob sandwich. I haven't been back since. Signs are now up advertising a buffet and I have a feeling that this buffet is either pretty good or pretty terrible. I have more money put on the latter.

I'm thinking about writing some more now that my classes are over for the summer. Hopefully, I'll put some life back into this website. We'll just have to see.

Well, happy eating to you all.
- cc&c

Penn Station - Bloomington, IN

So I'm eating and the intro to "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears is playing over the speakers. A middle-aged couple is filling up their drinks at the drink fountain and the woman of the two is whistling along to the song. I'm not sure as to whether I find that disturbing or humorous. Come to find out that it's a little bit of both.

I then look at my sandwich and it all melts away, like the provolone cheese on this beast. Mmmm..

Penn Station takes pride in its "east coast" subs. However, ironically it's a Midwestern based chain without any east coast locations. The first store opened up in Dayton, Ohio in 1985 at a local mall and thus developed into a network primarily rooted in the Midwest, with some stray locations in the south. So it has poor credentials for being a true blue Philly Cheesesteak joint. Penn Station doesn't even serve the cheesesteak in it's traditional form topped with cheese-whiz which is apparently how people eat it in Philly. The ordering process at Penn Station is organized and simple where ordering your cheesesteak in Philly is a major task in itself.

But there's no denying that this place makes a damn good sandwich.

This is your traditional Penn Station. You walk in, make your way to the counter and the counter man/woman awaits to take your order. You order, they ask for your name, you give it to them, you sit and then a person yells out your name and gives you your food. Newly remodeled locations are different from the above picture. The decor comes off as a Starbuck's-esque decor and there are two cashier terminals instead of one: the first terminal is for computing the order and the second one practically located on the other side of the store is for paying for your order. In other words, you order, they ask for your name and then you wait with many others for the same person to run all the way over to the other side to complete the transactions. While it is quite amusing to watch this fiasco, the new process extremely inefficient and cumbersome; which is why I usually opt to visit the older west side location rather than the newly remodeled (and very busy) campus location.

The menu is quite large and has a diverse selection of subs ranging from cheesesteaks to chicken subs to Italian subs to vegetarian subs. Much more than your typical joint in Philly/Jersey. Salads with sub toppings and, more recently, grilled wraps are an option if you're not into carb fest. Subs are either Small, Medium or Large. The Large is absolutely massive and rarely anyone gets that size. I almost exclusively opt for the Medium every time I order. Sides available are their signature fresh-cut Idaho (which are amazing) and cheese bread can act as both a side or a main dish. You decide exactly what you want in between two pieces of French bread and they'll make it. That's the game here.

Penn Station usually has a monthly special, combo meals revolving around 1-3 different subs including fries and a drink for a lesser price. I nearly jumped for joy when I found out that this month was "Chicken Month" since my favorite sandwich, the Chicken Parmesan was a special. With the special, my meal is usually near nine dollars. However, today CounterLady made a mistake while computing my order and it came to nearly seven. However, I ended up donating a dollar to some random charity so it came to nearly eight. Go figure.

Your food takes usually 5-15 minutes to be made, depending on how packed the place is. Your meat is first grilled on a large grill and then your sandwich is assembled with the toppings and put through a toaster akin to the ones at Quizno's. The sandwich is then thrown in a basket, fries thrown in, and then brought to the table. And before your eyes is a piece of grease-ridden heaven:


Penn Station is one of the few fast food joints where you food looks pretty damn close to what you see on the advertisements except the sandwiches are served open-faced. You can either eat it with a plastic fork and knife or roll it up into a sandwich - I usually do the latter. And the taste is even better the look of the sandwich. All the ingredients are stand out in their own way and blend together nicely. There's no blandness to be found at all.


I can't really remember the first time I've ever eaten at a Penn Station though I can trace my earliest memory of eating there to around the fall of 2002 and I've been back countless times since then. Although the fries are fried in cholesterol-free peanut oil, Penn Station really is meant to be eaten once in a long while. Do not even come close to this place if you're on a diet or plan on adopting one.

As I was throwing my trash away, a small dilemma happened. OldLady was trying to leave and IndieGirl had parked her car too close to OldLady's car, thus OldLady was unable to enter her car. IndieGirl noticed this in advance and walked towards the front door to help her out when OldLady burst in, angry, and yelled in her nasal grandmother-ish voice "WHOEVER PARKED THEIR BLACK CAR HAS TO MOVE IT, I CAN'T GET IN MY CAR!!" Everyone in the dining area just glanced at her, and the staff just looked at her strange. IndieGirl went and backed her car up.

Problem solved.