Burrissimo - Costa Mesa

Burrissimo 

1534 Adams Ave #D 

Costa Mesa, CA 92626 

714-206-1682

www.burrissimo.com

By Guest Writer: Jeff L.

Their theme is “fresh Italian” and their selection of what you could put on your meal was impressive.  The concept behind Burrissimo is similar to Chipotle.  You basically pick your meat and veggies and they then get wrapped up in an Italian herb tortilla with some angel hair pasta and sauce.  Their selection of toppings is very extensive.

We started with the bread sticks which looked underdone and were. They were served with an interesting honey butter which, when they were consistent were good, but a little too much on the honey side and less on the butter side. The first batch was more of an applesauce consistency with the second batch being what you would expect in regard to creaminess. The bread was very light and fluffy.

We then had the pepperoni rolls which were served with 3 sauces, alfredo, pomodoro and ranch. The alfredo sauce had this orange hue so I had to doubletake, it could use a little on the flavor side but did have a little kick towards the end. Pomodoro was a simple marinara sauce.

The Tuscany sausage potato soup was really good. Seasoned perfectly and it was light yet hearty.

The Burrissimo wrap is an intriguing concept, at first I’m thinking an Italian wrap with angel hair pasta inside would be weird, but it works. I had the meatball inside which was good but by the time you put all the veggies on it the meat to total product ratio seems small. They make their meatballs from scratch which I respect. I had a smidgen of diavolo sauce because it was too hot but combined with the pomodoro sauce made for a zesty combination. 

The Zeppoles were a little on the dry side but combined with the dipping sauces it worked.

Bottom line is that if you want fresh, high quality food for a reasonable price point you should try this place.

Editor's note: Jeff was invited to try Burrissimo as part of a media event.

Burrissimo Costa Mesa - GIVEAWAY!

http://www.burrissimo.com/

Have you guys heard of this new Burrissimo restaurant in Costa Mesa?  They also have a new location coming soon in Brea.  Burrissimo is a fast-casual restaurant that is similar in food-prep style to Chipotle.  The difference though, is that the burritos are made with Italian ingredients!  Burritos come filled with angel hair pasta and a variety of toppings, such as pomodoro sauce, alfredo sauce, roasted garlic, sundried tomatoes and so much more!  Burrissimo has offered to give out PRIZES TO 11 OF MY LUCKY READERS!

Ten lucky winners will win a $10 gift card to Burrissimo

One GRAND PRIZE winner will win a Burrisimo prize pack.  The prize pack must be picked up at Burrissimo, Costa Mesa by June 27, 2013. Prize pack consists of:

• A pair of Costa Mesa 60th Anniversary celebration concert tickets for Friday June 28 at 4:00 PM. For more info, visit the Costa Mesa 60th Anniversary Celebration website http://www.travelcostamesa.com/costa-mesa-60/index.html
• $25 Burrissimo Gift Card
• Burrissimo Logo Cap
• Bottle of BSting Signature Hot Sauce
• An order of free Zepoles (Italian Donuts)

By the way, if you visit the restaurant between 6/24 and 6/30, you will receive a free order of Zeppoles with a minimum $7 purchase!  To enter the contest, please use the rafflecopter form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pitfire Pizza - Costa Mesa

 353 E 17th St.

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

949-313-6333

www.pitfirepizza.com

Please Note: The following is a guest review written by Jeff L.

I attended a media event so take my reviews as such. I was coming from PCH and drove past the restaurant but the parking behind it is very intuitive. This is the first restaurant of theirs in OC and the 6th location overall having been in LA for years. Costa Mesa makes sense for a restaurant like this with its simple, laid back atmosphere yet subtle attention to details. For example, the column you see when ordering was made out of mahogany from a boat deck, the bulbs on the wall to your left as you walk in spell Pitfire in braille, and the seats are made from VW beetle car seats. The place is very approachable and I liked the open counter seating encouraging you to sit next to the kitchen in a community type arrangement. The counter made me think of a diner meets European café setting.

The drink menu was limited but focused to make anyone happy. They have all your major wines but all hand picked trying to get from California if they could. I had one of the signature cocktails called Crystal Cove which was quite refreshing and the rosemary stick made for an interesting touch – you could smell the fresh rosemary though drinking it could be challenging because the rosemary kept wanting to go in my nose – I somehow managed though. I had a sample of the beer which was very refreshing yet bold in flavor. They have from 5-10 beers on tap. In addition to regular sangria they also offered a pear apple version. The boomboom red wine was excellent and highly recommended by management. It reminded me of a daily drinkable Italian table wine that just was what it was. For pricing of $7 to $12 a glass it was perfect with the pizza.

The chicken meatballs were uneventful but the sauce brought them to life. On to pizza, I tried several and all were excellent. The crust was thin akin to a southern Italy but not crispy on the bottom. The topping to crust ratio was just right. The edge of the pizza crust was quite crispy though giving it a good combination. I am not a pumpkin person usually but pumpkin squash pizza was quite lovely, very subtle yet flavorful with the brown butter and fontina cheese rounding it out nicely. The Burrata pie was excellent with the arugula a nice touch. One pizza had me intrigued because it was pear but had a spicy kick, turns out they put a few red chili flakes on it. On to my favorite, the sausage party was divine and seeing all that meat on it had me anticipating a more saltier version but the balsamic drizzle kept it at bay and really brought out the flavor. The final pizza was the Tuscan off-menu with thinly sliced potatoes of all things but it worked.

Chicken Meatballs

Pumpkin Pizza

Burrata Pizza

Sausage Party Pizza

Tuscan Pizza with Potatoes

They make almost if not all of their own food and even have their own bread room. In the spirit of community they have a nice private dining room behind the kitchen and even installed the first oven they ever used from 15 years ago. Overall it has high quality food made by people that are passionate about what they do. The three themes of food, design and community are abundant throughout the entire experience and I will definitely be back with a high recommendation.

Lucca Cafe Brunch - Irvine

Lucca Cafe, Irvine
6507 Quail Hill Parkway
Irvine, CA 92603

(949)725-1773

www.luccacafe.net

One of the things I really enjoy in life is going to a nice brunch on Sunday. I try to go almost every Sunday. This past Sunday I decided to try the brunch at Lucca Cafe in the Quail Hill area of Irvine. Brunch at Lucca is served on both Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 AM - 2:00 PM.

I dined at Lucca with a party of five. We decided to start our meal with a couple of their "famous" Cinnamon Rolls ($2.50 each). The cinnamon rolls are made with sweet danish dough and are filled with their sugar cinnamon "shmear." The cinnamon rolls were very good. They were warm, buttery, flaky and filled with lots of gooey cinnamon goodness. Two cinnamon rolls was plenty for the five of us to share.

For our entrees, I decided to order Lucca's "Sunday Sauce" ($13.95). T ordered the Eggs In Purgatory ($9.95), IG ordered the Italian Porchetta sandwich ($12.95) and V and R decided to share the Pain Perdu ($8.95) and a French style rolled omelet ($11.95).


(side salad served with meal)
Lucca's Sunday sauce is a menu item that is only available during lunch and brunch. It is not on the menu during dinner. Even though it is called "Sunday Sauce," it is available seven days a week. The name comes from Chef Cathy Pavlos' grandmother who used to make this sauce every Sunday. The sauce is similar to a bolognese sauce and it is served with a meatball and a couple slices of Italian sausage. The sauce is usually served over penne pasta, but I requested that mine be made with whole wheat pasta. This pasta sauce is definitely one of the best pasta sauces I have ever had. It was bursting with tomato flavor and had a great tangy kick. I started getting full when I was halfway through the bowl, but I couldn't stop eating until every bit was gone. I will be returning to Lucca to get this dish many times. I was also happy to hear that the sauce is available for sale by the quart for $13.95. I think I may buy a quart later and just eat it with a spoon.

T enjoyed his Eggs in Purgatory. The dish was comprised of two eggs that were simmered in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. The eggs were served over breakfast potatoes and topped with cheese and avocado. He wasn't raving about this dish, but he thought it was pretty good.

IG's Italian Porchetta Sandwich was made on a toasted Telera roll. The sandwich contained lean pork loin, provolone cheese, arugula, caramelized onions and a sundried tomato aioli. IG declared this to be the best sandwich she had ever eaten in her entire life!


V and R both enjoyed their omelet and pain perdu very much. The fillings they picked for their omelet were goat cheese, avocado and ham. The pain perdu, aka french toast, was made with challah bread and was served with orange creme fraiche and maple syrup.

Overall, I was very impressed with the brunch at Lucca. I'm a little disappointed that the Sunday Sauce isn't on the dinner menu. I guess this just means that I'll be coming here mostly for brunch or lunch. I also wish they had some sort of champagne/mimosa/bloody mary special during brunch. This is definitely near the top of my list of favorite Sunday brunch spots now.

Tustin Pizza Company

Tustin Pizza Co.
13842 Newport Ave # B
Tustin, CA 92780-7802
(714) 838-1944

I recently had a craving for pizza and I had a coupon for Tustin Pizza Company, so I decided to give it a shot. I ordered one large pizza with pepperoni and garlic on one half and bacon and jalapeno on the other half ($10.50 for pizza + $1.75 for each topping-$14.00 total). I also decided to get a bavarian cream dessert pizza that they call a "sweetzah pie" for $3. I got a free order of toasted ravioli for checking in on Facebook.


The toasted ravioli weren't bad. They were just your basic frozen appetizer, served with a side of marinara.

The pizza was of a decent size and had plenty of toppings. The bacon was actually large pieces of bacon instead of bacon bits. There was also a generous helping of garlic on the pepperoni side. The pizza was very good. The crust was of medium thickness and was chewy on the inside, but crusty on the outside. I thought the crust was nearly perfect, but V thought it was a little too chewy. The sauce had a nice tangy flavor and was not overly sweet like a lot of pizza places. The cheese was the perfect texture as well.

The dessert pizza was not as good as I expected it to be. It was basically pizza dough with a thick pudding on top that tasted really artificial. I might try their raspberry flavor sometime since they are only $3, but I will not get this bavarian cream one again

Overall I really enjoyed the pizza from Tustin Pizza Co. I will definitely be getting pizza from here in the future. I think I will stick to just the pizza though and pass on the appetizers and dessert.

Do Not Go To Johnnie's New York Pizzeria In Irvine!

3939 Portola Parkway
Irvine, CA 92602

714-505-3355

www.johnniesnypizza.com

RESTAURANT ADDED TO BLACKLIST DUE TO POOR SERVICE

If you must go to Johnnie's though, I suggest you get takeout. The food is good, but I had horrible service there last night. I went down to Johnnie's for dinner with a party of eight. After we were seated, the waiter informed us that we were there during happy hour so all appetizers were half off and wine and beer were a dollar off. We weren't initially planning on getting appetizers, but since they were on special we decided to get an order of calamari and an order of bruschetta. We also ordered two bottles of wine.

A while later the waiter returned to take our order. We all ordered our entrees. V ordered the gnocchi with the blue cheese parmesan cream sauce.

After about 45 minutes to an hour, the waiter started bringing our entrees out. He brought out everyone's entree except for V's. About 5-10 minutes after he brought all the other entrees out he came back and said to V, "I just found out that we don't have any gnocchi." Then he just stared at her. After a few moments I broke the silence and said, "Why didn't you let us know earlier?" He said that he had just found out. Again, silence. "Well.....can she order something else?" I said. "I guess so" he replied. "Can we see the menu again?" I replied. "Oh yeah" he said and left to go get a menu.

We were all in shock that the waiter had waited 5-10 minutes after delivering the entrees to tell V that the item she ordered was unavailable. The waiter returned with the menu and told V that he would comp whatever entree she wanted. V looked over the menu and ordered a carne asada pizza. The waiter came back a few minutes later to tell us, "The kitchen says it's going to take a long time."

V sat and patiently waited while the rest of us ate our entrees. She picked on the bread basket and ate some of C's pizza. The waiter came by again after we had all finished eating and said to V, "Should I just pack up your pizza to go, since you guys are all ready to leave?" V just said, "That's fine...."

The waiter came back with V's pizza and our check. We handed him a 15% off coupon that we had. A few moments later the waiter came back and said "I can't take your 15% off coupon. You ordered appetizers and since they are half off for happy hour, we can't take your coupon." I asked to speak with the manager. The manager came by our table and repeated, "You can't use this coupon because you ordered happy hour specials." I told the manager that we had only ordered appetizers because the waiter had told us they were half off when we sat down. We had no idea that ordering them would invalidate our coupon. The manager then snapped back, "I already gave you a free carne asada pizza!" I told him that that was because of a completely different issue. He responded, "Fine, I'll give you 15% off your bill but I am going to charge you full price for your appetizers." I told him that was fine and that we would just not return to the restaurant again. "Whatever," he muttered and walked away.

The food at Johnnie's is actually very good. I'm very disappointed with the service here though. D&C had been to this restaurant previously and also had problems with receiving the correct order and the kitchen being out of items that they ordered. If this restaurant had better service and made sure that their kitchen was stocked with the items on their menu, I would be highly recommending this place. Since this is not the case though, I think you are better off visiting one of the hundreds of other Italian restaurants in the area.

Da Bianca Trattoria - Orange

7448 E. Chapman Ave
Orange, CA

714-289-1508

www.dabianca.com

Following up on a tip I received from a couple of readers, Mr. and Mrs. W, I headed down to a little trattoria the other night named Da Bianca. I knew that the restaurant was in the same parking lot as Pacific Ranch Market off of Chapman near Jamboree. What I didn't know was how hard it was to find. I drove around the parking lot and looked at all the storefronts. I drove back and forth in front of the market. I looked at the signboard out on the street. I found no trace of an Italian restaurant in this parking lot. Frustrated, I pulled out my iPhone, told it to locate me and then tell me where the nearest Italian restaurant was. Da Bianca popped right up on the screen. I called the number and someone answered the phone, "Da Bianca!" I asked where they were located and they gave me the intersection that I was currently at. I asked if they were in the same parking lot as Pacific Ranch Market. They told me they were right next to the market. I thanked them and hung up confused. I drove through the parking lot again and didn't see the restaurant. I then noticed that you could drive to the side and kind of behind the market. There it was. If I hadn't known this restaurant was there, I never would have found it. I have been in this parking lot many times and have never seen this restaurant. I'm glad I took the time to track it down though.

We entered the restaurant as a party of 5 around 6:30 PM on a Sunday night. The restaurant is pretty small with about a dozen tables. Half the tables were empty though, so we were seated immediately. The waiter brought over some menus and then propped up a white board with hand written nightly specials at the end of our table. A few minutes later he brought us a basket of fresh, warm garlic bread. It was very tasty and much nicer than just getting plain bread.

I decided to order one of the specials, the Lasagna Verde Al Forno ($15.95). V ordered the Spaghetti Pomodoro ($13.95), R ordered the Tortellini Alla Boscaiola ($13.95), S ordered the Farfalle Genovese ($14.95) and J decided to get the Cioppino ($21.95).

The food took a little longer to come out than at some other restaurants. This is probably a good thing though. This probably means that they are making everything fresh to order instead of just ladling pre-made sauce on to already cooked pasta, like I'm sure some high volume restaurants do. When the food finally came out, it was worth the wait.

My Lasagna Verde Al Forno was sheets of green (probably spinach) pasta layered with bolognese and bechamel sauce. The bolognese was a nice meaty sauce with mushroooms in it. The bechamel sauce was rich, yummy and much better than the ricotta cheese you find in a lot of lasagnas. I enjoyed this dish very much.

V's Spaghetti Pomodoro was made with spaghetti, fresh tomatoes and basil. V liked it a lot. I stole a bite of it and was amazed at how fresh the tomatoes tasted. It was fantastic.

J's Cioppino was made with mussels, clams, shrimp, fish and calamari in a slight spicy tomato broth. J thought that the Cioppino was very good. I tried some of it and thought that the broth could be a little spicier. Since J doesn't like a lot of spice though, she was happy with it the way it was. I also found the seafood to be a little chewy, but overall I thought it was a pretty good bowl of Cioppino.

S ordered her Farfalle Genovese with alfredo sauce instead of the pesto sauce it was supposed to some with. The farfalle was tossed with chicken breast and sun dried tomatoes. S really liked her dish as well.

R's Tortellini Alla Boscaiola was cheese filled pasta with ham, mushrooms and peas that was topped with a cream sauce. R enjoyed his meal. I stole a bite from R's plate as well and found it to be pretty tasty.

Overall, everyone was happy with their food. It's pretty rare these days for a party of 5 to go to a restaurant they haven't been to before, and all completely enjoy their meal. I was surprised that I also liked all the food I tried off of other people's plates. Good Italian food is very hard to find in Orange County. Da Bianca is definitely one of the good ones. My only problem with Da Bianca is the price. I felt that $15.95 was a little high to pay for a slice of lasagna. I might have felt better paying that if the meal had at least come with a side salad or something. In the end though, I decided it was worth it. I would much rather eat this yummy slice of $16 lasagna instead of two crappy slices of $8 lasagna. If Da Bianca had lower prices though, I'd probably start going there a lot more often. Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. W for the wonderful recommendation.

Red Brick Pizza - Tustin District

2455 Park Ave, Unit 1
Tustin, CA 92782

Phone 714-258-3500

Various locations across US, 21 within 50 miles of Irvine

Always looking for the next great pizza, I decided to try Red Brick Pizza at The District in Tustin. I looked over their menu online and was immediately impressed with the number of options that they had. At Red Brick, you can not only choose your toppings, but you can choose your sauce and crust as well. Red Brick Pizza boasts that they bake your pizza in a 1000 degree oven so that your pizza only takes 3 minutes to bake.

After looking over their menu, I decided to get a large Pepperoni Suprema ($18.00) and a Medium Pizza with Chipotle sauce, Canadian Bacon and Jalapenos ($15.00). I ordered my pizza online using LiveOnTheGo.Com (Use code "GRIFFINEATS" to get $5 off your first order-Many other restaurants to choose from). I asked them to have the pizza ready at 7:00 PM. I drove down to the District and had quite a difficult time finding parking. I finally found a spot and walked over to Red Brick. I walked in at 7:00 PM on the dot. The pizza wasn't ready, so I stood around for about 10 minutes until it was.

I took the pizza home and opened my large Pepperoni Suprema. I was shocked to see that this "Suprema" hardly had any pepperoni on it at all. The pizza was also pretty small. This did not look like an $18.00 pizza. I grabbed a slice and took a bite. My tongue was immediately attacked by oregano. I am a HUGE fan of oregano, and I even sprinkle it on my pizza sometimes. This tasted like the cook had accidentally spilled an entire gallon of it on to my pizza though. The taste of the oregano was so strong, I couldn't even taste the pepperoni or the cheese. The crust was also a little dry. I was annoyed that I had paid so much for this pizza. I have had $5 large pizzas that were much better than this.

The second pizza was to be shared by "I" and "V". They opened their pizza box and found a tiny pizza inside. This "medium" pizza would barely pass for a small at any other restaurant. The pizza was about the size of an individual pizza that you would expect to get at a casual dining restaurant. Both of the girls liked the pizza, but said that the Chipotle sauce was not spicy at all. They also didn't think the pizza was worth anywhere near the $15 we had paid for it.

Overall, we were all very disappointed with this pizza place. We paid $35.56 for these two pizzas. We would have been much better of going to Pizza Hut, Pacino's, Ameci or many other pizza places, and we would have spent a lot less. I would not recommend Red Brick Pizza to anyone. The only way I would even consider trying it again, would be if they cut their prices in half...or maybe even by 75%...

Do you like Red Brick Pizza? Please leave me a comment and tell me why. I'd love to hear from you.

Go Roma - The District at Tustin Legacy

2453 Park Avenue
Tustin, CA 92782
(714) 259-8646

www.goroma.net

RESTAURANT LOCATION OUT OF BUSINESS. OTHER LOCATIONS MAY STILL BE OPEN.

I recently went down to Go Roma at the fairly new Tustin District. Go Roma is a fast, casual, counter-service restaurant. This place kind of reminds me of Panera, but with Italian food. I looked over the menu and decided to get the Spaghetti and Meatballs ($7.89). This is such a classic dish, that I like to judge new Italian places on how well they can make it. I also order a cup of the Tomato Basil soup to start ($2.69). V decided to get the Oven Roasted Vegetable Sandwich ($5.99). J ordered the Chicken Limone ($8.99) and R got a Pepperoni Pizza ($6.99) with a side salad ($3.29).

We were given a number and told that our food would be out shortly. My cup of soup came out almost immediately. I forgot to take a picture of it because it looked so good. It tasted about as good as it looked. The soup was very creamy. I was told that it was made with cream cheese. I would give it a 7 on a scale of 1-10.

The rest of our food arrived shortly after my soup. All of the food looked pretty good. My spaghetti came with one large meatball on top. I cut up the meatball and mixed it in with my spaghetti. I took a bite and was disappointed. I did not care for this spaghetti at all. The sauce was extremely bland and the meatball had a flavor that I didn't like. The meatball seemed to be seasoned very similarly to Italian sausage, so it tasted more like spaghetti and sausage, than spaghetti and meatballs. I added a lot of parmesan cheese, salt and crushed red pepper. I still didn't like it. I ended up taking most of it home, and then throwing it away a few days later.

V seemed to like her sandwich ok. It came with a thick layer of sauteed spinach with oven roasted red peppers, mushrooms, red onion, tomato and provolone cheese. She thought it was bland though and added a lot of salt and parmesan cheese. The fries that were served with the sandwich were pretty darn tasty.

J's Chicken Limone' came with a side of sauteed spinach. She seemed to like it a lot and ate it all.

R didn't have much to say about his pizza. He thought that it was ok, but for some reason reminded him of an appetizer pizza. The pizza was very thin and not substantial at all. The side salad was just a side salad.

Overall, the food here was decent, but not great. Everyone thought that the food was a little bland so a lot of salt and parmesan cheese was used. Since the prices are very reasonable though, I would recommend this place to anyone that was looking for a fast, cheap, Italian meal. I will probably go here again sometime, I just won't order the spaghetti again.

*Prices may be slightly off as they are pulled from the restaurant website and may vary by location. They're pretty close though.