Jersey Mike's Subs-Laguna Woods/Laguna Hills

24365 El Toro Road #A
Laguna Woods, CA 92637

949-273-6557

www.jerseymikes.com

A brand new Jersey Mike’s Sub shop opened near my office yesterday. I decided to head down there today to check it out. Jersey Mike’s boasts over 300 locations nationwide, but they have just started expanding into Orange County.

I walked into Jersey Mike’s and the place was packed. The crowd was due to many different factors. This was the second day that they were open, coupons for free and discounted sandwiches had been distributed all over, and Jersey Mike’s takes longer to make a sandwich than your average shop. They take longer to make a sandwich because they freshly slice all of the meat and cheese for every sandwich. This can take an almost unbearably long time if you order a sandwich that has a few different meats and cheeses in it.

The menu at Jersey Mike’s looks like the menu at any typical sandwich shop. After looking over the menu I decided to order the Italian sub ($7.75 for a regular size). Unless otherwise requested, all the subs here come “Mike’s Way” which means with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, red wine vinegar, olive oil blend and spices. The Italian sub comes with provolone, ham, proscuittini, cappacuolo, salami and pepperoni. That’s six different ingredients, or six different times I had to watch the guy making my sandwich walk back and forth between the deli case and the slicer. After the meat and cheese is laid down on the bread, some onions, a giant mound of lettuce and a few tomatoes are placed on top. The whole sandwich is then doused with a generous portion of oil and vinegar. Some herbs are sprinkled on top and the sandwich is sliced in half. I asked for pepperocinis to be added to mine.

I took my sandwich back to my office and unwrapped it on my desk. It was an oily mess. They put so much oil on the sandwich that it leaked out and covered the whole exterior of the sandwich with oil. I eagerly took a bite and was immediately disappointed. I thought that since Jersey Mike’s took the time to freshly slice their meat, that this would be a superior sandwich. In fact, it was a little bland. The meat was lacking in flavor and I mostly tasted lettuce. Don’t get me wrong, it was a decent sandwich. It just didn’t blow me away like I thought it was going to. The sandwich was an average sandwich but had an above average price. If I had to choose between an Italian sub from Jersey Mike’s or Quizno’s, I think I’d have to take the Quizno’s sandwich.


*************UPDATE**************
6/27/08-I went to Jersey Mike's again for lunch today because I had a coupon for a free sub. This time I decided to try their Pastrami Reuben ($7.75 for a regular). I ordered it with mustard instead of the thousand island dressing it usually comes with. This sandwich was much better than their Italian sub. Juicly pastrami was smothered in lots of sauerkraut and melted swiss cheese. I wolfed down the entire sandwich in just a few minutes. This Reuben was definitely a good sandwich, but I still think that $7.75 for a standard size sandwich is a little pricey. I think if I'm going to spend that much on a sandwich, I'd rather go get a super premium sandwich at Cornerstone Cafe. The line was also still very long and slow. It took me nearly 30 minutes to get my sandwich today.

King's Fish House Laguna Hills Mall

24001 Avenida de la Carlota
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Tel 949-586-1515

I recently visited King’s Fish House as a party of 7. I called ahead and made a reservation so we wouldn’t have to wait for a table. I made a reservation for 6:45 and showed up right on time. The hostess acknowledged our reservation and said that she would seat us right away. She grabbed some menus and asked us to follow her. Halfway through the restaurant she stopped short. She turns around and says “It will just be a moment while we set up your table." She then walked away. We stood there a little confused. After a couple minutes we started slowly migrating back toward the front of the restaurant. I looked into the restaurant and saw some people making up a big round table. I assumed this table was going to be ours. After the table was made up, I figured that the hostess would come back and get us right away. She didn’t. We waited for another 10-15 minutes while a bunch of other people got seated. Finally she walked up to us and told us that our table was ready. She sat us at the table that I had seen them make up 15 minutes earlier.

We all sat down around the large, round table and looked over our menus. They had swordfish on their menu as their special fresh catch of the month. It was confusing to me though because we were at the restaurant in April, and there were banners all over the restaurant that stated “Enjoy Swordfish! Oct 5-Jan 31.”

Ok. I know I’m starting off this review with a lot of complaints, but don’t get me wrong. I love this restaurant. Whenever I think of going out for seafood, King’s Fish House is on my short list of places to go. This visit just started out a little weird for me.

After looking over the menu I decided to start off my meal with a Lump Crab and Bay Shrimp Cocktail ($10.95). C decided to get a cup of Smoked Salmon and White Bean Soup ($3.95) as an appetizer and S decided to start her meal off with some Salmon Sushi ($4.25). V, D and S all decided to get Milky Way Martinis as well ($8.95).

My crab and shrimp cocktail arrived, and while it was very good, I was disappointed with the size. The majority of the glass was filled up with shredded iceberg lettuce. On top of the lettuce was a very small portion of crab and about 6-8 small bay shrimp. For $10.95, I think they could have at least been a little more generous with the shrimp. I think I’ll stick to 99-cent shrimp cocktails in Vegas from now on.

C said his soup was pretty good and ate it all up.

S also enjoyed her sushi.

V, D and S all seemed to love their martinis. D had ordered it before and stated that it was one of her favorite drinks. The martini was made with Stoli Vanil Vodka, Crème De Cacao and Bailey’s Irish Crème.

After a wait that wasn’t too long, our entrees arrived. I ordered the King Crab Legs ($42.95) with corn and rosemary potatoes as my side dishes. The crab was absolutely fantastic. It was perfectly steamed and delicious. The potatoes were pan fried with rosemary, but didn’t taste that good to me. I wish they would have had a stronger rosemary flavor. They were a little bland. The corn was freshly cut off the cob, so it still had a lot of corn silk and little bits of the cob in it. It was ok, but I probably would pick a different side next time.

V ordered the Coconut Crusted Mahi Mahi ($20.95). She liked it very much. She said that the coating on the fish was so delicious, it made her want to peel it all off and eat it by itself. V ordered the Vegetable Ratatouille and Spinach as her sides. She said that the ratatouille was pretty good, but also really greasy. She enjoyed her spinach as well.

R ordered the Parmesan Crusted Sand Dabs ($17.95). He had a baked potato and corn as his sides. He didn’t say much about his meal, but he has ordered this before so he must like it.

J ordered the Swordfish Picatta ($23.95). She chose the rosemary potatoes and the ratatouille as her sides. She really liked the ratatouille but was disappointed that she didn’t get much eggplant.

C ordered the Tilapia ($16.95). He ordered the spinach and white rice as his sides. I guess he’s trying to eat healthy or something. I think I heard him mention that he thought the spinach had too much garlic in it.

D ordered the Crab Cakes ($18.95) and a Caesar Salad ($3.95) for her dinner. She ordered corn and mashed potatoes as her sides. She seemed to like everything that she got.


S ordered the Swordfish Brochette ($19.75) with mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese as her sides. She really liked the mac and cheese. V stole some from her plate and confirmed that it was really good.

Overall, everyone seemed to be happy with their food. I really enjoyed my meal and I look forward to returning to King’s again. I just wouldn’t order that crab and shrimp cocktail again though.

Cornerstone Cafe AKA Noonerz

As seen in Hungry? Thirsty? OrangeCounty 1st edition
By Griffin Tamura

CORNERSTONE CAFE
Fresh original sandwiches made to order! Try the roundabout!
Since 1988
$$
22981 Triton Way, Unit A, Laguna Hills 92653
(at Lake Forest Drive)
Phone (949) 916-9800
Fax (949) 916-0010
No website

NOW ALSO KNOWN AS NOONERZ IN JAVATINI'S!
22972 Moulton Pky
Laguna Hills, CA 92653

CATEGORY
[Lunch] [California] [Sandwhich Shop]

HOURS
Mon-Fri: 6:00 AM-5:00 PM
Sat-Sun: Closed AM-Closed PM

PARKING
Cornerstone Cafe is tucked away in a Laguna Hills industrial area called "Laguna Hills Business Park". Parking is ample and free.
PAYMENT
[VISA] [MC] [AMEX] [DISC]

POPULAR DISH
With so many delicious sandwiches here, it's hard to pick which ones are the best. Two that I think of though are the "Lemon Chicken" and the "Turkey Brie Please". The "Lemon Chicken" comes with a grilled lemon chicken breast, herb and lemon goat cheese, lettuce and tomato on 9 grain bread. The "Turkey Brie Please" is oven roasted turkey, brie, basil pesto, lettuce and tomato on a sourdough baguette. If you really want a taste explosion though, get this sandwich on their freshly baked, rosemary ciabatta bread. Try a muffin for dessert, they're fantastic!

UNIQUE DISH
The Cornerstone Cafe serves a sandwich that most people have likely not seen at other places. They call it a "Roundabout". The inventive chefs use a special sandwich grill to turn bread and fillings into a flying saucer shaped grilled sandwich. It kind of seems like a grown up version of those "Crustables" sandiwiches you get in the freezer section of the grocery store, but they are so much better. For breakfast you can stuff your roundabout with egg and a choice of bacon, ham, turkey or veggies. For lunch, there are so many filling choices that the possibilities are endless.

DRINKS
No fancy drinks here. They have a refrigerated case with various cans and bottles of sodas, juices and energy drinks.

SEATING
This is mostly a takeout place, so there is only one small table inside with 2 chairs.

AMBIENCE/CLIENTELE
The Cornerstone Cafe definitely has the feeling of a little hole in the wall, hidden gem. It's a little hard to find in the big industrial park that it resides in, but it's worth the hunt. Most of the clientele are working people on their lunch breaks.

EXTRAS/NOTES
The Cornerstone Cafe started out on the campus of UCI serving several thousand students, staff and faculty everyday. After getting pushed out by the Aramark company, they relocated to Laguna Hills. They now get a majority of their business from catering large functions.