Bagels & Brew - Lake Forest

21771 Lake Forest #100,
Lake Forest, CA
Phone: (949) 951-8985

Alternate Location:
23052-A Alicia Parkway,
Mission Viejo, CA
Phone: (949) 837-6977

www.bagelsandbrew.com

Whenever the Mrs. and I feel like going out to a casual weekend brunch, but don't feel like spending a lot of money, we very often end up at Bagels and Brew. Bagels and Brew is located in a strip mall, in a location you can hardly see as you drive by. It's right across the parking lot from Heritage Hill Historical Park. If you're looking for someplace nice to walk after your breakfast, the historical park is the perfect place.

The name "Bagels and Brew" makes it sound like this place has only bagels and coffee (not beer like one of my friends thought) to offer. This is far from the truth though. In addition to their 20+ bagel varieties, Bagels and Brew offers sandwiches, bagel pizzas, omelets, soups, salads and more. They call themselves "Your Neighborhood Cafe," and that is exactly what it feels like. They even have a nice outdoor patio so that you can sit and enjoy your meal with your dog.

On our most recent visit, V decided to get the Baja Scramble ($6.55). I stared at the menu for a long time trying to find something different to order, but in the end I ended up ordering my favorite item here, the Mission Viejo bagel ($4.50). I also added a side of bacon (can't remember the price), because you can't have a good breakfast without it!

I took my number and sat down at a nice outdoor table. The only thing I'm not thrilled about at Bagels and Brew is that they serve Diedrich's coffee. While Diedrich's isn't horrible, I don't really care for it. I wish they would serve Starbucks coffee instead. After about 7 minutes our food arrived.

My Mission Viejo bagel came with my choice of bagel. I chose the Jalapeno Cheddar bagel. The bagel is toasted and topped with cream cheese, fresh tomato and avocado. It is then sprinkled with a generous portion of lemon pepper. This bagel is so good that after the first time I had it, I went to Costco and bought a huge container of lemon pepper so I could re-create it at home all the time. The bacon was crispy and delicious.



V's Baja Scramble had bacon, tomatoes, cilantro, onion, green chiles and pepperjack cheese. Her meal also came with her choice of any bagel with cream cheese. She also chose Jalapeno Cheddar for her bagel. V and I are both very big fans of Jalapeno Cheddar bagels. The Jalapeno Cheddar bagel that Bagels and Brew offers is pretty good, but not the best we've ever had. The problem with the bagel here is that it is basically a plain bagel topped with melted cheese and jalapenos. We both prefer to have jalapenos and cheese mixed into the dough of the bagel as well.


Bagels and Brew is the perfect place to go if you're looking for a quick and tasty breakfast or lunch. You can also stop by and pick up some bagels to take home or to the office. They offer discounted bagels after 3:00 PM and close at 6:00 PM everyday except Sunday when they close at 5:00 PM. They also have a variety of prepackaged cream cheeses and specialty coffees. If you're in the area, I highly recommend that you stop by.

Cosi - Costa Mesa, Metro Pointe

901 South Coast Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Phone: 714-957-6191
Fax: 714-957-3384

More than 100 locations Nationwide

www.getcosi.com


Cosi is a little sandwich cafe that reminds me of Panera. You order at the counter and then wait at a cozy table for your food. They also offer free wi-fi. In many ways though, I think Cosi is much better than Panera. I kind of wish there was a Cosi on every corner around me, instead of Panera.

Cosi is modeled after a small Parisian cafe. This is not to be confused with a small Persian cafe like someone I know thought. It's Parisian, as in Paris, France. The menu at Cosi consists of salads, soups, hot and cold sandwiches and flatbread pizzas. In the evening, they also serve hearth baked dinners like grilled salmon and chicken in alfredo sauce.

I went to the counter to place my order. I decided to get a dinner sized flatbread pizza ($9.99) that I could customize with my own toppings ($1.49 each). I asked the cashier if they had fresh garlic and cilantro available as toppings. She looked at me and said, "Ummmmm....how fresh?" I laughed and said that I just wanted garlic on my pizza that wasn't roasted or cooked in any way. She had no idea and yelled back to the cooks, "Do we have fresh garlic?!?" They responded with a quick "No." I asked if they had any kind of garlic. The answer again was no. "Ok, what about the cilantro?" She yelled back again, "Is our cilantro fresh?!?!?" The cook yelled back "Uhhh....yeah...." So in the end, I ended up ordering a pizza with pepperoni and fresh cilantro.

As a side note, if you have never tried this combination on a pizza, you are really missing out. Pepperoni and Cilantro pizza is probably one of the best kinds of pizza you can get. The only thing that would make it better is fresh garlic. If you haven't tried these toppings together on a pizza, stop reading this article, go out and find a pizza place that offers these toppings and go get it. You can come back and read this article later. But I digress....

T went up to the counter and ordered the Wasabi Roast Beef sandwich ($7.39) and a cup of Tortilla Soup, which was advertised as the soup of the day. The cashier told him that they didn't have Tortilla soup. She said that it was coming soon, but not yet available. He ended up getting a cup of the Tomato Soup ($2.19 with purchase of entree) instead.

V decided to get the T.B.M sandwich ($6.39) that had tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese. The cashier asked if she wanted it grilled or cold. V decided on grilled (which makes the sandwich $6.59). The cashier then asked if she wanted chicken in the sandwich. V responded with, "No....No Chicken....No meat of any kind." "Ok" responded the cashier.

A fourth was dining with us, "I", but to be honest I forgot what she ordered. I also forgot to take a picture of her food, so shame on me....Sorry.

Cosi also has a unique dessert that we decided to try. They offer "do it yourself" S'mores. The menu says that you have your choice of graham crackers or giant Oreo cookies to make your S'mores with. An order for two people costs $7.79 and an order for four people costs $13.59. We all just wanted to try it, so we decided that all four of us would share the order for two. We tried to order our S'mores with the Oreo cookies, but the cashier looked confused and again yelled into the kitchen, "Do we have Oreos?" Of course, their response was "No."

They handed us our number and we sat down at a table. The atmosphere is really nice. The decor reminds me of Panera as well. It seems more like you're in a cozy coffee shop than a restaurant. We didn't have to wait long for our food at all. My pizza was the first to arrive.

I received a pretty large pizza that was rectangular in shape and 15 inches long. The pizza was made on the same flatbread that everything here seems to be made with. I took a bite of pizza and was pleasantly surprised. It was quite good! The sauce had a nice bold tomato flavor and the pizza overall had a nice fresh taste to it. The amount of pepperoni wasn't bad and I liked that they gave me plenty of fresh cilantro. I was only able to eat about half of this pizza since it was so big.

Next they brought V's sandwich. "Chicken TBM Sandwich?" they said. "Um....no" V replied. "I was very clear that I did not want any meat in my sandwich." They apologized and took the sandwich away. I'm wondering if we actually got charged for the chicken sandwich. I have no idea though because we were never provided with a receipt for our dinner, just a number.

They then brought T's sandwich and soup. All of the sandwiches here seem to be served on the same flatbread that is split in half. It kind of reminds me of having a sandwich in a pita pocket. T thought the soup was ok but was very disappointed in his sandwich. The menu was not really clear on whether the sandwich was hot or cold. T was expecting a hot roast beef sandwich, but it was ice cold. He also thought that the sandwich was really, really sweet. He couldn't stop talking about how sweet it was. He said he could barely force himself to eat the sandwich because it was so sweet.


A few minutes later they returned with V's correct sandwich. Her sandwich contained three slices of mozzarella, three slices of tomato and three leaves of basil. She thought the sandwich was just average. V thinks she would prefer to have a sandwich from Panera. I think they could have put a little more into the sandwich. Her sandwich seemed like it barely had any filling at all.

When we finished our dinner, we went up to the counter and told them we were ready for our S'mores. They brought us out a large round platter with a mini fire pit in the middle of it. On the platter was one Hershey bar, eight marshmallows and four graham crackers broken in half. It was pretty fun making s'mores at the dinner table over this tiny fire pit. V thought that since they charge almost $8.00 for this dessert, which is more than any of their sandwiches, that they should have given us more marshmallows. V is a marshmallow addict though.

I really like the environment at Cosi. It is exactly as the name implies, cozy. I think that this is a great place to go get a casual inexpensive dinner. I will definitely get the pizza when I return. I will also probably order the S'mores again because it was really fun. I just hope that they have the giant Oreo cookies next time.

BBQ Chicken - Irvine

Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center
2750 Alton Parkway #111
Irvine, CA 92614

(949)752-2001

www.bbqchickenusa.com

After hearing all the hype about BBQ Chicken, the new Korean fried chicken joint in Irvine, I decided I had to go down there and try it. With a name like BBQ chicken, most people would assume that this place specializes in barbecue chicken. It does not. While they do have barbecue chicken on the menu, this place specializes in Korean Fried Chicken that is fried in pure olive oil. Their sign says that "BBQ" stands for "Best of the Best Quality." BBQ Chicken is the second branch of this chain to open in Orange County. BBQ Chicken though, claims to be the world's largest fried chicken chain with over 3500 locations worldwide.

I walked in the front door completely expecting to encounter an environment like KFC. Instead I found myself in a small restaurant with modern decor and comfy looking leather chairs. We were asked if we were going to eat there or take our food to go. We pondered for a minute and finally decided to dine in.

They brought us glossy paper menus that appear to double as the take-out menus. Most of the chicken here is served in 5 or 10 piece orders. Their Original Olive Chicken was also available in a 2 piece combo with fries. After looking over the menu, J decided to get the Original Olive Chicken Combo with fries and cole slaw ($5.99). I wanted to try their Drumsticks of Fire. It wasn't available in a combo though, so I ordered the smallest order, a 5 piece for $8.99. I felt I should have something other than a large plate of fried chicken for lunch, so I ordered a side of fried rice for $1.75. The waitress told me that my chicken would take 15-20 minutes to prepare. I told her that would be fine.

A few minutes later the waitress dropped of a small salad at our table with two plates. I guess this is something that everyone gets with their meal. The salad kind of tasted like a weird cole slaw.

While we were trying the salad, the waitress brought us a small bowl of white cubes in a clear liquid. "What is that?" I asked. "Radish.....Daikon," she replied. "Oh....." I tried a piece. The daikon radish was pickled in a brine of vinegar and sugar. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't for me. I guess the Koreans have a really different idea of side dishes with fried chicken.

After about ten minutes, J was served a wire basket with a fried chicken wing, chicken thigh, french fries and cole slaw. I tried one of the french fries. They were pretty yummy. They must be fried in olive oil too. J thought the chicken was ok, but wasn't overly impressed.

About 5 minutes later I finally received my Drumsticks of Fire. Five very large drumsticks were in a circular pattern on my plate and had been drizzled with a bright red hot sauce. I eagerly took a bite. The coating was crunchy and crispy. The first thought to enter my mind was "Wow, these are sweet." Shortly after though I could start to feel the heat. The chicken was pretty spicy, which is usually a good thing. I think I'll stick to the original chicken next time though. If it were just spicy it would be fine, but I'm not really a big fan of the sweetness in my hot sauce.

My fried rice was brought in a styrofoam cup. It was really bad. It tasted horrible at the same time as it was really bland. I can't explain it. It had no flavor, but really bad flavor at the same time. I could only bring myself to eat a couple of bites. J tried it and said that it was so bad, she didn't think she'd be able to eat fried rice for a while.

Overall, the chicken was pretty good. It was very crispy and crunchy which I really like. Frying the chicken in Olive Oil seemed to also give it a nice clean flavor. However, I feel that the prices are a little high, especially since you only get dark meat chicken. I do prefer dark meat, but I know it's a lot cheaper than breasts. I realize the prices aren't that high, but I tend to think of fried chicken as a fast food meal. If I'm going to pay $9.00 for a meal, I want it to at least come with a side dish. Going to BBQ Chicken was a fun experience, but I think I'll just make it an occasional splurge. When I want to pig out on fried chicken, I think I'll stick to the 10 pieces of KFC Extra Crispy for $7.

McCormick & Schmick's - Santa Ana

2791 N Main St.
Santa Ana, California 92705
(714) 558-1963

I feel it is only fair that I start this article with a disclaimer stating that I hate McCormick & Schmick's. I don't hate them because of other bad things I have heard about them. I don't even hate them because of the whole "Condom in the soup" incident in Irvine a few years ago. I simply hate them because of my own experiences at this restaurant. I have never had good food, or particularly good service at this restaurant. So this is going to be a bad review. It is very possible that I just hated McCormick and Schmick's this visit because I went there with my mind already set on hating it. It could also simply be because they suck. If you don't want to read a bad review of McCormick and Schmick's because you are a big fan of them, maybe you should skip this article and wait for my next one.

By now you're probably wondering, "If Griffin hates this place so much, why did he go eat there?" Well that's a good question, and here is my answer. My wife and I were invited out to dinner by J a little while ago, to dine at McCormick and Schmick's. My gut reaction was to immediately and politely decline the invitation. J then proceeded to tell me that she made the reservation on OpenTable through their "ShareOurStrength" charity promo. She told me that McCormick & Schmick's was one of a few local restaurants that promised to donate a portion of the proceeds to ShareOurStrength if we made our reservation through OpenTable. I decided that since it was for a good cause, I would try them once more.

Our party of 5 arrived at the new Santa Ana location at our reservation time. After a couple of minutes we were seated at a nice table. We looked over the menu and started deciding what to order. The waitress came over to introduce herself and take our drink orders. After we placed our drink order, we told her that we were there because of the ShareOurStrength charity promotion. The waitress seemed confused and wasn't quite sure what we were talking about. She said she would go ask the manager. She returned a short while later and said that if we wanted any money to be donated to charity, we had to order one of their four nightly specials. I asked her if she was certain, because the advertisement had said that they were donating a portion of our entire dinner proceeds for making the reservation through OpenTable. She went to go double check with the manager. A few minutes later she came back. This time she told us that she was wrong the first time. In fact, money was not donated for the nightly specials. She pointed at a stand-up card on the table and said that we had to order one of the two items on it if we wanted them to donate anything to charity. I looked at the card and saw two overpriced $30 entrees that didn't interest me at all. At this moment, I was annoyed to say the least. I didn't care for either entree that they were donating money for, so I looked for something on the menu that was cheap. I didn't want to have to give this place any more money than I had to. J decided to order the Wild Mixed Grill Seafood Trio special ($29.99) just so that some of our money would go to charity. Her special included a Creme Brulee' for dessert.

After looking over the menu, I finally decided to get a cheeseburger($8.95), medium rare. I asked for cheddar cheese, bacon and bleu cheese on the burger. The waitress said she had no idea if they had bacon or cheddar cheese. She said she'd have to ask the cook. V decided to get a pasta dish with Mahi Mahi ($14.95), S went for a stuffed salmon dish ($24.95) and R decided to get fish and chips ($16.95).

My cheeseburger arrived with the cheddar, bleu and bacon ($1.95 extra) that I had asked for. The waitress asked if I wanted anything else for my burger. I asked for some mustard. About ten minutes later, she dropped a jar of mustard off at the table. I tried to open the jar but it seemed to be glued shut. I tried and tried and tried and finally the lid came off. Crusty, gross, black stuff fell off the rim of the previously sloppily closed jar on to the table. The brown goop inside the jar barely resembled mustard. I decided to pass on the mustard. I always wonder how health codes can allow restaurants to have jars of condiments that everyone sticks their dirty utensils into, be then delivered to other tables. It sounds like a bacteria breeding nightmare. Especially when it looks like this jar of mustard had probably originally been opened months and months ago. The cheeseburger wasn't cooked medium rare as I requested. It was more medium-well and the outside of the patty had been charred to a crisp. It tasted like I was eating a piece of charcoal.

V didn't like her pasta very much. Her pasta came swimming in sauce with small chunks of mahi mahi mashed up into it. She said it was overly fishy tasting and had way too much sauce. She ate a few bites of it, but quickly got sick of it and couldn't bring herself to eat any more. I think this dish is made with old, leftover pieces of mahi mahi that were trimmed off (or fell off) the filets for the more expensive dishes. Her meal looked like a big mushy mess.

The salmon that S ordered was stuffed with a mixture of crab, shrimp and brie cheese. She said that it was pretty good and didn't seem to have any complaints about it. S felt that the mashed potatoes were really bland. She thought that since the fish was so rich, maybe it was a good thing that the potatoes were so bland.

R ate his fish and chips and said they were nothing special. They were just your basic fish and chips. I definitely don't think they were worth the $16.95 we paid for them. If you look at the picture, you'll see that he didn't even get that much fish.

J liked her Wild Mixed Grill ok. It came with three very small pieces of fish covered with different sauces. She felt that the sauces were overly sweet, but could see how some people might like them.

At the end of the meal we decided to order an additional dessert so we could enjoy dessert with J. I was really hoping that the dessert would be better than the food. We ordered a cheesecake ($6.95) to go along with J's Creme Brulee'.

The creme brulee' was really firm and had a strong scrambled egg flavor. I've had much better creme brulee'. The cheesecake was nothing special either. It tasted just like the cheesecake you can get at Jack in The Box. Maybe they have the same supplier.


After this most recent visit to McCormick & Schmick's, my opinion of them has not changed. I'm not sure how they continue to be successful and are able to keep opening new locations. If you're looking to go out and get seafood, I would recommend going to King's Fish House or even Red Lobster instead. Just do yourself a favor, don't go to McCormick and Schmick's.

The Chicken Coop - Costa Mesa

414 Old Newport Blvd
Newport Beach, CA 92663
(949) 645-6086‎


The Chicken Coop is an unusual little place. In the words of my father, "It looks like this place hasn't been cleaned in a decade." It's the kind of place where you walk in and find peanut shells all over the floor. It's also a strictly cash only joint. I kind of like places like this though.

I visited the Chicken Coop for lunch the other day with J. We waded through the layer of sawdust and peanut shells on the floor and found a table. We were handed a couple of sticky menus by a friendly waiter. We looked over the menu and everything sounded yummy. J was in the mood for breakfast. She asked the waiter if they still served breakfast at lunchtime. They did. She decided to order the pancakes with bacon and eggs ($4.99). Since she made breakfast sound so good, I decided to order the Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs ($8.95) instead of the lunch special I had been pondering.

After we ordered I started looking at the table. It had logos from a bunch of different restaurants in Orange County. It seems as if they were all related to The Chicken Coop. I hadn't heard of any of them before though, so I have a feeling that they're all gone. I could be wrong though. It also looks like this place is also known as Zubie's Chicken Coop. On the awning outside though, it looks like the word Zubie's was taken off, so maybe Zubie doesn't own it anymore. Some of the other restaurants on the table were Zubie's Pizza and Zubie's Dry Dock (which I just discovered is still open in Huntington Beach).

Our food arrived pretty quickly. My meal looked delicious. On my plate was a nice sized chicken fried steak, three perfectly poached eggs and some hash browns. I believe that the chicken fried steak was made from a pork cutlet instead of the more traditional beef steak. It was juicy and tender. The batter on it seemed to be more of a beer batter than breading. It made it extra crispy and very good. It was a little on the bland side, but some salt really helped. The picture also makes the portion look small. I think the plate was just big though. It was actually big enough that I couldn't finish everything on my plate.

J said that her meal was just average. It's kind of hard to go above average though with pancakes, eggs and bacon.

Halfway through our meal, J commented on how weird it was that the floor was covered in peanut shells, yet they didn't serve us any peanuts. I stopped and thought for a minute and realized I had never had peanuts there. I asked the waiter if they actually served peanuts and he said he would bring us some. I guess if you want some, you have to ask.

The Chicken Coop is a nice place to go if you are looking for a casual, no frills, inexpensive meal. Just make sure to bring cash with you if you go.

New Email Address for Griffin

Yahoo seems to be continuing in the grand tradition of the rest of the universe by utterly screwing me over. The yahoo email address that I have been using as my primary address for the past 10+ years has been deactivated for no apparent reason. I spent a lot of time on hold with their customer service department and all they could tell me was that my account was deleted for "abuse". They have no other information to give me beyond that. I have set up a brand new email address. If you need to contact me, please use this new email address, griffineatsoc@gmail.com.

If you have a yahoo email account as your primary email, I highly recommend that you back up all of your addresses and any files you have in your account. Then you should find a new email provider. I have discovered that Yahoo often seems to delete accounts for no apparent reason.

Dickey's Barbecue (BBQ) Pit - Irvine Grand Opening

15435 Jeffrey Road
Irvine, CA 92618
949-679-0050
Fax: 949-679-0054

www.dickeys.com
RESTAURANT LOCATION OUT OF BUSINESS-OTHER LOCATIONS MAY STILL BE OPEN


I attended the grand opening of Dickey's BBQ today. Dickey's is a large, nationwide BBQ chain that started in Dallas Texas in 1941. They are just now starting to open up stores in California. I believe this Irvine location is the first to open in California. There are 26 in line to open in California, 6 of them in Orange County. I saw an ad that said they were having $2.99 sandwiches all day and giving away a 42" Plasma Screen at 2:30 PM. I had an earlier lunch meeting so I didn't make it down to Dickey's until almost 2:00. It's a good thing because it turns out they were doing the drawing at 2:00 PM. I entered my name in the drawing and went to the counter to order some food. I decided to try one of their sandwiches since they were on special. I ordered a BBQ brisket sandwich ($5.19 regular price). I was told that the restaurant was too full so I had to take my order to go. I gave them my name and stepped aside to wait for my order.

I looked over by the beverage bar and noticed that there was a big jar of large dill pickles and a soft serve ice cream machine. It turns out that both of these are free when you eat at Dickey's Barbecue. They were out of cones, so I got myself a little cup of vanilla soft serve while I waited for my food. It was pretty good. Yay for free ice cream! A few minutes later I was handed a bag with my sandwich and an announcement was made that they were starting the drawing. They actually ended up giving away four $50 gift certificates in addition to the plasma TV. I didn't win anything. Boooooooo!

After the drawing I headed home and opened up my sandwich. The brisket was piled on to the sandwich dry without any sauce. Onions and pickles came on the side. It also came with a little side of barbecue sauce. I put some sauce on the sandwich and took a bite. It wasn't bad, but it lacked flavor. The meat was tender, but almost tasteless. This sandwich could benefit from a lot of salt and some smoke flavor. The sauce helped a little, but not nearly enough.

I was disappointed in the sandwich, but I think I will still return sometime to try out their ribs. The ribs are available as a plate with two sides for $14.99 or by the pound at $16.99. It sounds a little pricey to me, especially since most of the weight in ribs is in the bones. I'll make sure to update this article when I get back to try them. I also really like that this restaurant offers the free soft serve vanilla ice cream and large dill pickles. It's a nice touch that more places should pick up on.