Category: Restaurants (Page 43 of 52)

Viva Mexico is one of the very, very many taquerias that dot the San Leandro landscape. This one is located in the “Fashion Fair Shopping Center”, the little outdoor mall by Bayfair Mall where Ross, Michael’s and Pier 1 are located. We went there for dinner one night last December before going to see a movie nearby.
Unfortunately all this time after our dinner I don’t have a clear picture of everything we had. Under such a circumstance it might be better perhaps to not write a review at all – but we’re quite unlikely to go back there so it’s now or never. Plus I figure that as long as I’m honest, you, the reader, can give my recollections the weight you think they are worth.
In any case, I’m afraid to say that I cannot remember what we had for dinner that night. My educated guess is that I had a carne asada burrito and that Mike had a carnitas burrito, as this is what we usually order when we go to a taqueria. I don’t remember eating it, but I do remember discussing that the food wasn’t that great, certainly not as good as that of our favorite taquerias. I also recall liking the chips and the fiery roasted pepper salsa, while Mike being less parcial to it.
I did like the restaurant itself. It’s a small operation and the owner, behind the counter, was very hospitable. A couple of diners at another table were saying (in Spanish) how this was the best Mexican food around. Still, Mike and I left thinking we wouldn’t be coming back.
Viva Mexico
Fashion Fair Shopping Center
15100 Hesperian Blvd.
San Leandro, CA
510.317.2042

Last night we wanted to get a drink before going to a movie in Orinda (saw Pride & Prejudice, even the Austen haters among us loved the movie) and we decided to stop at Calypso Bar & Grill which is very close to the theater. Alas, unbeknown to us there is a cafe/wine bar just across from Calypso which might have been more appropriate for a quick drink. Next time.
Calypso is a Caribbean themed restaurant, the type that might have been popular in the 60’s and 70’s. The restaurant is small and dark and on Saturday nights, at least, features music. Last night it was a singer/guitar player singing covers from the 60’s. I particularly enjoyed American Pie.
Boris and Regina just had bottled drinks, but Mike ordered the hand shaken Margarita while I had a fruity rum drink. They were both good, though not outstanding. Mike felt the Margarita had too much ice, but I was happy for that as I prefer my drinks cold. Mike liked the coconut shrimp, though as he says, he’s never had coconut shrimp he doesn’t like.
In all I wouldn’t mind giving the place a try for dinner if we happened to be in Orinda. The restaurant is family friendly – there was a whole group of children while we were there.
Calypso Bar & Grill
2 Theatre Sq., No. 153 (off Moraga Way)
Orinda, CA 94563
925-258-9686

I just got a message from a website visitor who seems to have liked Gonzales y Gonzales, a Cal-Mex restaurant we visited in NYC, where we had terrible service. He says:

“I am not sure how long ago you went to this restaurant but you may want to give it another try. I recently moved to Pa from Ca and could not believe we could not find Mexican food that came close to the food in Ca. Then I found Gonzales y Gonzales…the food is so good. I even took friends from Ca who were visiting NYC and they too loved it. The food is fresh and the service has always been good. Maybe they read your review and decided to change.
Try it again…you may be surprised.”
Alas, not everyone seems to agree as to the merits of this restaurant. Here is another message about Gonzales y Gonzales I got on June 2005:

“Two weeks ago my boyfriend and I went out to have a few dinks and appetizers
at Gonzales y Gonzales. It was a friday evening after hard days work. We
were having a good time. Tiping very well and ordering for a good two
hours.
I went to the ladies room because I started to feel a bit nauceous. I into
the ladies room where then I vomitted all I had to eat. I disgustingly
wiped the bowl feeling embarrassed of the mess I just felt I made. The bowl
was cleaned off proceded to get napkins from the bathroom attendant. She
refused to hand me more napkins unless I gave her a dollar for each napkin
used. I was so upset. I did not understand this rule of hers to charge
for napkins.
I went to the upstairs to speak with the manager. I first went directly to
the first bartender he ask what happend and just ignore my request to speak
to a manager. I then went to My boyfriend asking me what was taking so
long. I told what happened. We then spoke to the bartender that served us
all night. He got the manager for us. The manager then came. I explained
how ridiculous to be charged for napkins in the ladies room. He then rudely
gave me a pack of napkins and placed it on the bar. I was so angry!!! I
told him why would I be charged for a napkin to wipe off the vomit off my
shoe. I needed extra napkins and I am being charged.
An apology but rudely and no compensation for the horrible moment I had to
experience. The evening was ruined and the good time I was having was
completely ruined by this restaurant. The bathroom attendant disappered.
I know why because this restaurant hire illegall immigrant and these people
are trying to make money how ever they can.”

If you have a comment on Gonzales y Gonzales feel free to leave it below.

OK, does anyone have any? 🙂 If so, do e-mail (or comment here).
According to the SL Times, Chili’s opened at the Bayfair mall a week ago, and Chevy’s is moving its location to inside the mall.
There is finally some progress in the opening of Cafe Sorriso at the old Latte Da site on the corner of Juana and Washington. Soon after Latte Da closed – after the owner increased the rent considerably – the sign for Cafe Sorriso appeared, but nothing more happened for months. A couple of days ago the exterior was finally painted, a very nice shade of yellow-orange, I might add. Hopefully it means they’re getting ready to open.
The same cannot be said about the Kolbeh restaurant which took the space of Casa Maria #2. The sign is still there but nothing else has happened, I daresay nothing will.
Finally, rumor has it that Angelina’s changed ownership a few months ago, and that the new owner has no experience running a restaurant of any kind. I hear his people skills are poor, to say the least, and a waitress and two delivery drivers have quit in the last couple of weeks. The kitchen stuff remains, but I hear they are not happy.

A couple of days ago Mike had dinner with a friend at Le Charm in San Francisco, at my suggestion (I saw good things about it posted online). He didn’t come home happy. The overall meal wasn’t bad. As an appetizer he had the House Made Boudin Noir Sausage with Toasted Walnuts, apples and Currants ($8). The sausage was not cased and had a funny texture (but perhaps that’s the case for blood sausages) but it was very tasty and he gave it a thumbs up. His friend had the Hot Goat Cheese and Smoked Salmon Terrine ($8) and she seemed to like it, ate it all without making any comments. As a main dish, she had the Confit of Wild Boar Shoulder with Spa

During our trip to the Olympic Peninsula we spent a night at the Kalaloch Lodge and (with no other options in sight) had both dinner and breakfast there. It wasn’t a bad experience. The Kalaloch Lodge is located in a beautiful setting next to the beach and the restaurant has great views of the Pacific Ocean; reserve early to get a window seat. The restaurant has a lodgy feeling with wood-covered ceilings and walls, though it looks more functional than cozy.
The menu is American/Pacific Northwest, and has a strong emphasis on seafood. Appetizers and burgers were $7 to $11, while main entrees $10-26. There is also a children’s menu with the usual offerings for $3-5.
Mike started with the clam chowder ($4 for a cup). He found it a bit salty, but overall good – better than your average clam chowder. It had big chunks of clam and celery, which he liked.
He continued with the seafood pasta ($22). It came with 2 scallops, 4 or 5 chunks of salmon, several large shrimp and red and yellow pepper, all in a very cheesey alfredo sauce. He was quite pleased with the dish.
I had the beef stew ($10), which was nice and hearty and I enjoyed (though not as much as mine, of course).
Probably the low point of the dinner was the service, the restaurant was busy though it didn’t seem understaffed. However, our waitress disappeared after bringing the soup and didn’t come to offer refills on the bread or the drinks, even though it took a long time before the entrees came.
The next day for breakfast service was better, but then again, the restaurant was less crowded. Their breakfast menu offers classics – pancakes & egg dishes – I had some really good granola and Mike had the pancake and egg combination which he enjoyed.
In all, we had good meals and we’d eat there again if we were staying at the lodge.
Kalaloch Lodge
157151 Hwy. 101
Forks, WA
866-525-2562
http://www.visitkalaloch.com/restaurants.shtml

During our visit to Port Townsend last month, we had dinner at the “Surf” restaurant. The restaurant is located by the waterfront and has beautiful views of the harbor. Inside it sort of resembles a pizza parlor, it has an enclosed bar area, a billard room and a couple of separate dining rooms. Tons of high chairs and booster seats make it perfect for a family with tired children.
The menu was mostly seafood based with most entrees in the low teens. Mike had one of the four daily specials, salmon in some sort of sauce, the sauce was mild but overall he liked it. I had the fish & chips which were also good. Service was friendly though the waiter seemed to be quite distracted.
If you go to Port Townsend, you could do worse than the “Surf”. However, it seems that the restaurant will be either closing or changing ownership soon.
Surf Restaurant
106 Taylor St
Port Townsend, WA
(360) 385-2992

We’ve eaten at many places on I-5 between the Bay Area and LA, and I have to say that “The Ranch Kitchen” has been the best of the bunch. Now, considering that most of the restaurants on this stretch are quite bad, this is not necessarily high praise, but the food we had there was actually pretty good. Alas, while it’s not as expensive as the actual Harris Ranch restaurant (where entrees hover in the thirties) it is pretty expensive, with sandwiches in the low teens and entrees in the high teens to high twenties)
The menu is beef driven, of course and both Mike and I decided on the Gorgonzola burger, at $11 one of the cheapest items on the menu. The burger consisted of a 1/3 lb patty topped with gorgonzola cheese, caramelized onions, grilled pancetta a roasted red pepper and mayo. Mike thought that it was quite good, but I felt it was somewhat unbalanced. The toppings seem to compete in flavor, rather than compliment each other, and the taste of the beef disappeared underneath so many other flavors. Still, it was an enjoyable eat. We both liked the fried potatoes, these seasoned thick slices of potato, slightly crunchy outside and very soft inside. Mike had onion rings instead, and he felt there were too few of them for the extra $1.50. They were good, but would have been better with a dipping sauce (none was offered).
Mika had the chicken strips ($6) which had a light breading and were actually made of chicken breast. Alas, they were a bit dried. They came with the same fries I got, Mika didn’t really like them and I’d prefer there would have been a healthier alternative.
Both Kathy and Mika had vanilla milkshakes, they were a bit too thin.
Service was good and in all we had a good meal, despite the expense we will probably stop here on our way to LA in the future.
On a final note, we went for dinner at the Harris Ranch restaurant once a few years ago, and while we found it both expensive and overpriced, the food was surprisingly good.
The Ranch Kitchen
Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant
24505 West Dorris Avenue
Coalinga, CA
1.800.942.2333
http://www.harrisranch.com/

Earlier this week I took my two girls to Rockridge by BART. We’d done that < a href="http://www.marga.org/food/blog/archives/001739.html">once before and Mika and I had enjoyed it. We hit Crepevine, Rockridge Kids, a very nice toystore where Mika loves to play and the Rockridge Marketplace, where I got some rabbit and duck legs to cook at home. But it was the allure of Crepevine which had made Mika so excited about the trip.
Crepevine is a small restaurant serving both savory and sweet crepes, in addition to soups, sandwiches, pastas and breakfast items. It offers sitting both inside, and in a covered patio with easy access to the street. I’m looking forward to trying their savory crepes sometime, but this time I’d had some lunch so I decided to go with a sweet one instead. These are served folded as an envelope and come with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream (I think) and cream. I got the one with mascarpone cheese and a sweetened nut mixture. It was good but nothing speciall and there was too little filling for the crepe, I don’t think I’d order it again. Mika once again decided on the banana and caramel run one, which we both liked. Camila even got to enjoy some of the banana pieces.
I didn’t really like the ice cream – though perhaps that’s because its flavor was too subtle to compete with the ones from the crepe – by Michaela loved it.
I’m pretty sure that going to Crepevine is going to be part of our routine when visiting Rockridge. Next time I’ll have to try the savory crepes.
Crepevine
5600 College Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
(510) 658-2026