Fuddruckers Ribeye Steak Sandwich
April was a pretty slow month for us when it comes to eating out. Part of it has to do with our trip to visit my mom and brother in Silicon Valley and the other part has to do with saturation as there are only about a dozen other places left that I am currently interested in checking out.
When we were in Silicon Valley, I ate burgers at McDonald's several times as we were much more interested in getting back on the road quickly than anything else (we did over a thousand miles in less than 40 hours) but there were a couple of bright spots.
The first was a small neighborhood Italian eatery just around the corner from my brother's house. He'd never eaten there but knew the owners from when one of them worked for him at another San Jose area restaurant. I didn't eat there but the wife says she really enjoyed it (some penne pasta with marinara sauce, antipasto, hot tea). I was too wound up to eat anything, especially since we'd had a great lunch earlier that day at LA's famous Tail O the Pup (please see the April issue of TFC for a complete report of our lunch at one of wienerdom's most popular icons).
We've also modified our policy about reporting on the regular places we eat.
Shorter is better, unless something goes tragically wrong (or wonderfully right)...
31 March - Chili's in Santee:
Boy and I were on our own for dinner due to the wife's schedule being changed and not having anything defrosted or ready to cook at home.
The Boy had his usual side salad with extra bleu cheese dressing and a Coke and I had my regular beef fajitas and iced tea.
I had a few bites of his salad and he had a couple of my fajitas.
The waiter was the same guy who was too busy gabbing with the customers to actually do any serving when we sat in his section last month but fortunately, he handed us off to another server and went on his break.
She served the salad at the same time as the fajitas but other than that, service was adequate.
It was $20 exactly with a $4 plus change tip
11 April - Gaglione Bros:
I was by myself this time, everything was great - $10.76 total (8 inch mushroom cheesesteak - no salt, extra cheese, fries - no salt, small soda)
12 April - S & M Chinese:
We were celebrating the wife's raise (La Jolla Country Club) and decided to go out for dinner, even if it was a Monday night which is generally the only night in the week we can count on a good, home cooked meal as the wife now works 3 day shifts and 5 night shifts a week.
For the soup course, it was the hot & sour for us and the egg flower for the Boy.
For appetizers, it was the egg rolls for me and the Boy but the wife made the mistake of ordering the salad (she can't have the bleu cheese).
For drinks, it was iced tea for me, hot tea for the wife and a Sprite for the Boy.
For the main courses, it was the prawns and scallops fish basket, spicy prawns and the orange beef.
For dessert, the wife had the mango sorbet, the Boy had the mud pie and I had the green tea ice cream, a great palate cleanser.
From the decor to the menu, this place really takes us back to various Chinese eateries we knew (and frequented) in the late 60's or so.
This last visit, I had a serious flashback moment when they served the Boy's Sprite in a glass identical to the ones they used at an old girlfriend's favorite Chinese place in Peoria, Illinois (ah, my old college days...). I drank many a Vodka Collins from that same exact glass...
Service was prompt and efficient and it came to a total of $62 plus change; what the heck, make it an even $72 with tip.
17 April - Chili's in Santee:
When dinner time rolled around this evening, the Boy and I soon came to realize that there was nothing in the refrigerator or defrosted from the freezer (we've been busy) and so we were on our own again...
Boy's choice, we headed over to Chili's for the same old, same old, (the beef fajitas and a side salad, which we both split) and an iced tea for me and a soda for the Boy)
Service was mediocre at best, no refills, no checking back after the food was served (by someone else) no pre-bussing the table to get rid of the dirty dishes, no help with the spill (she saw it from a distance of less than 2 feet) and immediately turned around and walked the other way, etc.
She isn't a waitress so much as she is an order taker and should go back to work at the counter at McDonalds.
The total was $23 with tip.
It would have been more but after I placed my empty tea glass so close to the edge of the table and deliberately cleared everything else away so that she couldn't possibly have missed it (yet she continued to ignore it), I took back a buck from what I was going to tip her.
It's a good thing we didn't linger any longer as I would have taken back even more as time went on...
18 April - Dim Sum @ Jasmine Bistro:
We were shopping for work suits for the wife at the mall in El Cajon this morning.
She got 2 coats, 3 shirts and 3 slacks for $213 and change and we decided to have lunch while we were there...
"Who is this Sheldon Devane?"
We had the shrimp shu mai, shrimp dumplings, shrimp, shitake mushrooms and rice wrapped in a lotus leaf, an order of spring rolls and a cup of steamed white rice. The wife had her usual hot tea and I had my usual iced tea.
Service was the normal mediocre (with all new faces there again), almost everything was only moderately warm and I had to ask for more ice for my tea.
This is approximately our tenth visit over the last 23 months and more often than not, service is hit or miss, mainly because of their very high turnover rate (it seems like they always have a "help wanted" ad in the paper, a sure sign of a problem restaurant).
The total was $23 including tax and tip.
23 April - Por Favor in El Cajon:
As you may remember, Por Favor was one of the first Mexican places we ate at when we first got here.
And as you may also remember from our subsequent reports, their quality fluctuates wildly and they have an ad in the paper for help much of the time. Last year, they also lost one of their 4 locations (the other one in El Cajon).
The first thing the Boy and I had was a couple of baskets of chips & salsa.
I ordered the La Especial de Ramon (grilled carne asada, beef taco, cheese enchilada, refried beans and a small serving of guacamole) and the Boy had the Carne Asada Quesadillas which came with a side of guacamole as well.
He had his usual Sprite, I had my usual iced tea
Boy had some of my carne asada and cheese enchilada and there was enough leftover for a certain long little doggie's dinner.
The food was good, service was adequate and the total was $25 and change, $31 with tip...
25 April - Tommy's Italian Deli & Restaurant:
We've written about Tommy's numerous times over the last year or so and it almost routinely disappoints and then amazes us every other time we eat there. Most of our problems are service related as the waitresses sometimes just aren't too bright, trained very well and sometimes they just plain don't know what the heck they're doing (and could care less).
In turn, I find myself alternatively being pleased one time and incredibly frustrated the next.
Today, I was fresh out of ideas for lunch, short on time and since we were driving right by the place on the way back from the mall...
I wanted a small sandwich with all of the Italian meats, run it through the garden and throw some vinegar and oil on it.
What I got was a (large) deli combo with ham, salami, mortadella, capicolla, domestic prosciutto (still good stuff) and provolone, some finely shredded lettuce, sliced green bell pepper, sliced tomato, sliced mushrooms, black olives, powdered oregano, vinegar & oil, salt & pepper...
They make their own breads there (wonderful crust) and it's even better when it's fresh out of the oven and still warm.
It was huge, way too much for me and it had to have weighed at least a couple of pounds.
There was also some turkey loaf in there but we gave that to the dog.
And it was the closest they have ever gotten to what I want.
Part of the problem is that they pass the order along verbally, first from the woman at the cash register who took the order, then to Tommy Jr as she appeared to be confused (this is the same girl who put her thumb in the pour spout of the pitcher of iced tea a couple of months ago, which caused us to get up and walk out without ordering) and eventually the order goes back to the guy who actually makes the sandwiches.
Now I know that my best bet is to go directly to Tommy Jr. and next time, I want some pepperoni and pepperoncini as well...
As I was leaving, the guy who made the sandwich told everyone there "I'm having that for lunch!" and told me to "Be careful with that!"
The total was $10.76 and there was more than enough for me, the wife and Dog Boy.
27 April - Tommy's Italian Deli & Restaurant:
Flush from my recent success at actually getting what I wanted (more or less), I decided to press my luck and grab a quick pizza at Tommy's.
When I sat down at the table, I realized that it was going to be the same waitress who grabs the drink glasses by the rim and stuck her thumb in the pour spout of the iced tea pitcher so I grabbed a Vernors (since 1866) out of the drink cooler in the wall.
I ordered my usual, a small side salad with extra blue cheese dressing and a small pepperoni pizza, easy on the sauce and easy on the cheese.
I had to ask for more salad dressing again after waiting quite some time (she's not too good about checking back, especially when I was the only one in the place) and I had her bring me another Vernors (the pizza was good, as it usually is, but she didn't have anything to do with it).
When I asked for the check and a to go box (for a couple of leftover slices for the dog), she asked "Can I bring you some change?" (I'd thrown a $100 bill on the table), more than a bit presumptuous of her, to say the least; then there's the fact that I really would rather have had iced tea instead of spending another $4 or so on bottled soda just so she couldn't stick her thumb in my drink...
The total was $18 and coin so I left her the coin and $2 (somewhat less than 15%)...
Note: According to my calculator, we spent $211.52 this month not including our visit to Tail O the Pup, Tommy's in LA,, what we ate on our trip to Silicon Valley, what didn't get reported here, you know, the routine stuff like going to McDonalds, our favorite local weenie stand, etc.
We can also point out at least a 18 times we ate out during this month (5 more times on our trip to Silicon Valley alone) plus the 8 listed here, a visit to The Dog Out, we tasted the new Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger at Jack in the Box, lunch at Arby's, McD's, BK, possibly more.
I have no idea what we spent at all of these other places (but I do write everything down)...
PS: Sheldon Devane is from the series "Wings" when Lowell (Thomas Haden Church) asked Fay for a shrimp recipe and Lowell being Lowell...
