Restaurant of the Week: Lazy Dog Cafe

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Lazy Dog Cafe, 11560 4th St. (across from Ontario Mills), Rancho Cucamonga

Lazy Dog, which opened in May in the sort of restaurant row along 4th Street near Ontario Mills, is off to a good start. Five of us went in for lunch earlier this week and the place was busy, most seats filled and servers efficiently going about their work.

The 10th location in the SoCal-based chain, Rancho Cucamonga’s is open until midnight every night — imagine! — and dogs are allowed on the expansive outdoor patio, where servers will bring them a bowl of water. (According to the website: “Doggie ‘accidents’ must be cleaned up and sanitized immediately by employees.”)

Inside, there’s a rustic look, the open ceiling a latticework of beams, lots of natural light pouring in. The website says the ambience is meant to evoke a hunting lodge in Wyoming and its lazy, friendly feeling. Uh-huh. With loud rock and pop playing (Steve Miller Band, ELO) and servers trying to upsell you, “lazy” isn’t really the feeling evoked here.

So even if the story behind the restaurant is the usual BS, the food is pretty good. We all liked what we had: a handformed turkey burger ($9.25) on whole wheat with a side a chilled brocollini; a lavash veggie wrap (price forgotten; pictured below) with a cucumber salad on the side, the wrap served in an accordion stand useful to hold it together between bites (“It’s genius,” the diner marveled); fish and chips with slaw ($10); and a half-sandwich (walnut chicken salad) with fries and a full salad.

“They’re not lazy with the portions,” said the diner who ordered the latter. “All this for, like, $7.95?”

The menu also has pizzas, pastas, steaks, seafood and wok-fired dishes, with lunch specials $10 and under.

Two friends dined there the previous day, one getting an ahi tuna burger with Asian slaw and wasabi dressing ($10), the other, a discriminating diner, ordering a pesto chicken and hummus salad ($8.25) and ending up satisfied despite the iceberg lettuce. They also had the sangria sampler and the beer sampler and noted the enticing selection of martinis ($6) and craft beers ($5).

Service was friendly, although the mid-meal effort to tempt us with dessert seemed like trying too hard, and like rushing us through a meal in non-lazy fashion.

Overall, though, not bad for corporate dining. And it’s a really beautiful building.

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