Restaurant of the Week: 2nd Avenue Saloon

2nd Avenue Saloon, 271 N. 2nd Ave. (at 9th St.), Upland; open daily, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Note: This post, about a meal in late February, was prepared prior to the pandemic. The restaurant is now offering outdoor dining on Second Avenue.

A friend messaged me recently with a photo of a flier in the window of 2nd Avenue Saloon for $5.99 Steak Night, which is each Wednesday. We made a plan to meet (meat?) up.

The bar and restaurant, formerly Old Baldy Brewing Co. and the Sea Cove, opened in 2008, and I realized I’d never been inside, only to neighboring JD Allison’s. The layout inside 2nd Avenue Saloon seems completely different than Old Baldy, but then it’s been more than a decade and perhaps my memory is off. A couple of pool tables greet you when you walk in, then there’s a classic-looking bar, plus tables and booths, and a second “VIP” room for parties, karaoke and live music.

I’d enjoyed Steak Night at nearby Charlie’s Stars and Stripes, which began at $5, included a steak, baked potato and salad, and supposedly required a drink purchase, although the staff didn’t enforce that (once or twice, not knowing the requirement, I ordered water). The price rose to $7 and the day of the week changed from Monday, which had made it a good place to eat before a council meeting, to Wednesday, and I got out of the habit. (It’s still taking place and now costs $8.)

There’s a special every night at 2nd Avenue Saloon. We each ordered the steak, which comes with two sides. Options included fries and onion rings, but not baked potato. I got a salad and mixed vegetables, as did my friend. The salads were served on individual plates and were substantial.

The steaks came out soon, grilled green and yellow zucchini and onions on the side (see above). The server told us she thought our veggie servings were undersized and had instructed the kitchen to make more. That extra serving came out in a couple of minutes on a separate plate and we split it up.

My sirloin, medium rare, was great. I ate half and took home half, along with some veggies. My friend ate all of hers but wished she’d followed my sterling example of restraint. I’ve always thought more people should emulate me but they rarely agree.

Also, we only ordered waters, so the total bill for both of us with tax was around $14. Thanks, 2nd Avenue Saloon.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Restaurant of the Week: Paulie’s Pizza Pub

Paulie’s Pizza Pub, 247 N. 2nd Ave. (at 9th), Upland; open 11 a.m. daily until midnight Monday to Thursday, 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 p.m. Sunday

Paulie’s took the place of the all-ages music venue The Wire in the heart of downtown Upland after a protracted renovation in early 2016. Needing dinner before a recent council meeting, I headed there to check it out. And there’s a lot to check out.

There’s exposed brick, hardwood floors, vintage signs for such products as Quaker State Motor Oil, a Vote Against Prohibition mural, a miniature fire escape against one brick wall for urban ambiance and B&W framed photos of rock singers, among other things to marvel at.

The front is a bar, with small solo tables facing the bar; after a narrow space with two-person tables and an unused upright piano, there’s a dining room with tables for small groups. You get the impression Paulie’s has been there forever, not four years (albeit in an early 20th century building).

I got a Don Vito sandwich ($11), meatball and sausage with mozzarella, romano and marinara on French bread. It’s all kind of baked inside the bread. That was a good but unusual knife-and-fork sandwich, and big enough that I took some of it home. It fortified me for the council meeting.

I’ve been back twice since, splitting a medium vegetarian pizza ($25) with a friend on one visit. It had tomatoes, onions, peppers and mushrooms. The crust was thick and crispy. As my friend put it: “I’m not usually one of those people who say ‘I like the crust.’ But the crust was really good.” The pizza was large enough (as a medium) that there was some to take home.

Third visit, I got the Knuckles Chicken Parm sandwich ($11), with chicken, marinara, provolone and garlic bread. You won’t be surprised to hear that I took some home. A different friend got the Mad Dog hot sub, with ham, turkey, roast beef, provolone and au jus. “It’s really good,” she said, “if you like meat dipped in meat juice.” That was a compliment.

Also, if you go, check out the restrooms. The men’s has celebrity police-booking photos.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Restaurant of the Week: Raising Cane’s, Upland

Raising Cane’s, 183 E. Foothill Blvd. (at 2nd), Upland; open 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday to Thursday and until 3:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday

Founded in 1996 and based in New Orleans, Raising Cane’s is a rapidly expanding quick-service chain of chicken finger restaurants. Ontario has two and Fontana, San Bernardino and Upland have one each. Upland’s opened back in January and, after months of meaning to go and forgetting, I went there on my lunch break recently.

When I got there after 1 p.m., there was a line out the door (thankfully it wasn’t raining), and a majority of the seating was taken. However, the first register is angled toward the entry, close enough to the door that it takes only five or six people to make a line out the door. Very canny.

The menu is of course flat against the wall and begins a little beyond the first register. You can’t really see it in its entirety unless you’re ordering from the second register.

(I’m a little put off by their chirpy “One Love” motto, seen above. Bob Marley’s shade must be shaking his dreadlocked head at his song being used by a corporation. On the other hand, maybe the expression of unity and inclusion is a subtle jab at the Chick-fil-A founder’s retrograde social views, in which case, carry on.)

I got the three-finger combo with fries, toast and drink ($7.42). A four-finger combo that also had slaw was a little under a buck more, but I didn’t see it on the distant menu board until picking up my order directly under it. Oh well.

The chicken was fine, perhaps more heavily battered than is strictly necessary. The skinny crinkle-cut fries were crisp. It was a decent cheap meal.

The music was cranked up too loud for comfort for my tastes. Employees were hustling. It’s a high-energy place. As when Lou Grant told Mary Richards that she had spunk, and he hates spunk, I’m not really a fan of high-energy places. There’s an expansive patio outside that was quieter, but also colder. That would be my preferred seating on a warm day.

As must be obvious, after all the hype about Cane’s, the experience was a slight letdown. Expectations adjusted, perhaps a second visit will be more to my liking. Food-wise and ambience-wise, I’d prefer to eat at Chick-fil-A. Although Cane’s is better on Sunday (rim shot).

One neat local touch on the wall inside the entry: a framed 1978 issue of Skateboard World magazine. The cover promotes not only a feature on the Cal Jam II concert in Ontario, but one on the “Upland finale” of a skating event, presumably at the old Pipeline skate park.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Restaurant of the Week: Rad Coffee

Rad Coffee, 232 N. 2nd Ave. (at 9th), Upland; open 6 a.m. to midnight daily

This is a sequel of sorts to last week’s no doubt thrilling Restaurant of the Week post about Daddy O’s, in that Rad Coffee is immediately next door to Daddy O’s and was visited after my fine burger and fries there. Put both posts together and you have a complete two-hour experience (that will take five minutes to enjoy).

I was aware of Rad Coffee, which after all has been written up in LA Weekly and elsewhere, but that write-up, while positive, had not been enticing somehow. It focused on Rad’s unusual drink combinations that use colored whipped cream and breakfast cereal. Shortly afterward, an Upland friend said something dismissive to me about the place, to the effect that it was great if you like cereal in your coffee.

That was a couple of years ago. After Daddy O’s, the friend with whom I had dinner suggested we go next door for Rad, telling me it was a good spot. And as I try to keep an open mind, I was game, because I remained curious about the place.

The first surprise was that one of the baristas is a friend whom I had lost track of after he’d left a Claremont restaurant I frequented. So immediately I felt welcome.

Rad does have some crazy drinks in its “specialty blended” category, some of which, yes, have cereal. They also serve espresso shots in cold brew with ice cream ($10), for you big spenders.

But they serve standard espresso and coffee drinks, made with Verve Coffee from Santa Cruz, as well as tea and lemonade. I got a sea salt caramel iced coffee ($5.50 for 12 oz.) and liked it.

Notable is the decor and vibe. The walls are papered in punk rock photos and concert fliers, horror movie posters and the like. Its mascots, male and female, are cartoonish skulls with ’50s hair. Halloween will be big for Rad with various horror-themed specialty drinks and events this month.

Among the wall art that typifies the irreverent tone is the Lee Harvey Oswald-Jack Ruby doctored photo below. Some will say it’s in bad taste. Well, it IS in bad taste, but it makes me laugh.

Most impressive is how busy Rad was and how many young people were there. Can you believe a business in downtown Upland (that’s not a bar) is open until midnight? Can you believe a business in downtown Upland is cool? I can barely believe it myself.

Rad may or may not be for you, but I liked it, hope to return and wish them continued success on their fourth anniversary. It always pays to keep an open mind. You never know what you’ll find.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Restaurant of the Week: Daddy O’s Rockin’ Cafe

Daddy O’s Rockin’ Cafe, 228 N. 2nd Ave. (at 9th), Upland; open noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday

I had heard of Daddy O’s, in business in downtown Upland since 2014, but had not eaten there. In fact, I was skeptical that it was as good as Yelp reviews would lead us to believe; it currently has 5 stars. But a friend whom I trust raved about it and invited me for an early dinner (Daddy O’s closes at 7), so I showed up with optimism. Spoiler alert: Even my sense of optimism underrated Daddy O’s.

The interior is narrow and kitschy, with some midcentury-style memorabilia and modest, two-person wooden booths. It looks like an actual business from the 1950s rather than the gleaming, overdone, Marilyn and Elvis-decorated diners around us today.

We ordered off the limited menu — hamburgers with or without cheese, a hot dog and deli sandwiches were about it — and took a seat at a sidewalk table on a warm late afternoon.

The owner, who appeared to be running the place by herself, said our food would take a few minutes since everything is made fresh, and that was fine. Some 15 or 20 minutes later, she brought out our plastic baskets.

My cheeseburger, cooked medium rare as requested, was made from hand-pressed Angus beef, with a sheaf of lettuce, tomato, onion and thousand island dressing. It was the best burger I’d had in some time. The crinkle-cut fries were crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. The combo with a soda: $10.50.

My friend’s hot dog, fries and soda ($7.50) were declared very good, with the grilled onions a good choice. “I’ve always liked crinkle-cut fries,” she said. “They remind me of high school.”

Daddy O’s also sells Thrifty ice cream and has since added vegetarian burgers. It’s small, but it’s mighty. Five stars is about right.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Restaurant of the Week: Maniac Mike’s Cafe

Maniac Mike’s Cafe, 1749 W 13th St. (at Benson), Upland; open daily, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Cable Airport has had a restaurant going back at least to the 1970s, gaining the name Maniac Mike’s in 1999 under new owner Mike Stewart. Like most restaurants at general aviation airports, there’s the food and then there’s the chance to see small planes take off and land, or to just enjoy the ambiance of a low-key airport.

Mike’s closed after a fire and the owner’s death in 2018, as I’ve recounted; it’s reopened in the same family but with a new look. At this writing it’s still in the soft opening phase until the patio can be completed. A friend and I ate lunch there two weeks ago and I may as well file a report on it.

The menu is largely the same as before, with hot and cold sandwiches, pancakes and such. My friend (whose name is Mike, but who is no maniac) ordered the “biplane,” a half-sandwich and soup or chili ($10). He got roast beef, piled four layers high, and chili, which as you can see came with cheese and onions. He washed it all down with a Runway IPA, one of the beers on tap ($6). “It was good diner food,” he said.

I got my baseline sandwich, the tuna melt ($8.55), the one by which I judge a diner. This tuna melt was above the baseline, tasting fresh. I got steak fries as my side; they were OK, but boring, and I left most of them behind.

The airplane kitsch is gone, replaced by handcrafted tables of reclaimed wood, teak paneling, tile and hanging copper lamps. The staff described it as “modern chic.” It’s almost a gastropub look. The patio will triple the seating and should be a popular spot.

The only disappointment, unless the fries count, is that during an hour lunch, only one plane was seen in action. C’mon, pilots, step it up.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Restaurant of the Week: Taste of Sumatra

Taste of Sumatra, 1490 Foothill Blvd. (at Grove), Upland; open 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday to Monday; closed Tuesday and Wednesday

Indonesian food is represented locally, but you have to know where to look. I was aware of only Cross Court Cafe in Pomona (located inside a badminton club) and Java Bistro in Rancho Cucamonga. Then a friend tipped me to Taste of Sumatra, open since May 2018 in a service center in Upland at Grove and Foothill. He said his Indonesian-American wife approved.

It took me a while to get there, in part because of the funky schedule: closed Tuesday and Wednesday. But eventually I made it in for lunch on a Monday. (The owners must be those rare souls who think, “Thank God it’s Monday.”)

It’s sparsely decorated, and of course the menu is full of unfamiliar combinations of vowels and consonants, but there are descriptions, not always complete concerning ingredients, plus photos on a page of “popular dishes.”

My friend had the nasi padang ($12, pictured above), a combo with chicken, beef rendang (a type of curry), potatoes with yellow curry, a spicy hard-boiled egg and rice. He liked the chicken and the egg, didn’t like the curry, while saying he’s not really a fan.

I had the kwetiau goreng medan ($12), the Indonesian equivalent of the Thai staple pad see ew, with flat rice noodles, chicken, shrimp, bean sprouts, egg and green onions. I liked it.

It’s always inspiring to see mom and pop restaurants like Taste of Sumatra that satisfy a small niche we might not know existed out here in suburbia.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Restaurant of the Week: Old World Deli

Old World Deli, 281 S. Mountain Ave. (at 8th), Upland; open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily except Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A storefront in the Mountain Green shopping center next to a former Mervyns and Kohl’s is on the surface an incongruous spot for a restaurant named Old World Deli. It calls itself “an international delicatessen featuring Italian, German, Jewish and American food” and began as a meat market in Downey in 1969.

The Upland location began in 1973 on Foothill Boulevard, according to one of the many newspaper writeups framed on the walls. There were multiple locations at its height; today there’s Covina (126 Shoppers Lane) and Upland.

I ate here once or twice in the ’00s and had positive experiences while never feeling motivated to return. A few months ago, a soup-lovin’ friend told me the soups are top-notch, putting the restaurant back on my radar. During the holidays, an attempted visit to my go-to pizzeria, San Biagio’s, in Mountain Green was thwarted due to vacation.

So I hit up Old World Deli. After the shaded patio tables out front, you enter to a deli case, tile floor, a wall-filling mural and some Italian market items. Rather than order at the deli counter, you order at the regular counter, where the staff is friendly.

The menu has hot and cold sandwiches, a salad bar, soup, pizza, pasta dinners, hot dogs and broasted chicken. They are broad-minded sorts.

I got the tuna melt ($8), a special that day. As careful readers know, the tuna melt is my baseline sandwich, the one I will almost invariably order if it’s on a menu to get a sense of the restaurant. This was a good version with pickles, cheddar and tomatoes on sourdough.

A week later, with San Biagio’s still closed, this time for painting, I had the excuse for a repeat visit to Old World Deli. I wanted a soup and, with five choices, went with cream of mushroom, which was sold out. I opted for broccoli cheese, plus a half sandwich, roast beef (around $8.50).

The sandwich, about 4 inches, was packed with roast beef. The soup was the standout, an 8-ounce serving, creamy and, remarkably, hot all the way to the bottom of the foam cup. Both made for a decent-sized lunch.

I ought to try one of the dinners, which they serve after 4 p.m. and which include a daily special, like fish and chips on Friday. Fish and chips? Broasted chicken? Lasagna? They seem to know what they’re doing, so it wouldn’t surprise me if all these items were pretty good. Although I would advise them against branching out into sushi.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Restaurant of the Week: Claro’s Italian Market, Upland

Claro’s Italian Market, 1655 N. Mountain Ave. (at 16th), Upland; open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday; closed Wednesday

You know how it is: Sometimes there’s a long-lived, beloved restaurant that you always mean to try, but you never get around to it. Claro’s was like that for me. I knew where it was, but it’s rare that I pass by on North Mountain, and since it’s a market, seating might be an issue. It was always a “one day I’ll check it out” kind of place for me.

But then a friend in the San Gabriel Valley brought up Claro’s to me, as there are a few out that way. This was two weeks ago, on what was looking to be the the last hot stretch we were likely to have in 2018. Since the heat was such that eating outdoors would be comfortable for your easily chilled blogger, I resolved to make a special trip for lunch that Friday before inspiration faded.

Claro’s is larger than I’d have expected, the deli area busy with employees preparing catering orders and fulfilling a long grocery list of the other mid-afternoon customer, who ordered a pound or half-pound of multiple deli meats. The store, incidentally, has pasta, sauces, canned tomatoes and many other Italian items — as probably everyone reading this has known for years.

The young man taking my order suggested the Grandpa Joe as the deli’s most popular sandwich. It’s got salami, capocolla, provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, pepperocini and dressing on a (what else?) Italian roll. Price is $7 for a small or $8.49 for a large. So obviously I got the large.

I paid at the register and also bought a $1.20 cookie, which, charmingly, rang up on the receipt as “Delicious Claro’s cookies,” and a Pepsi, then took it all out to one of the half-dozen outdoor tables, situated under the broad awning. Customers came and went from the store, some grabbing a small shopping cart before entering.

The capocolla and pepperocini provided a nice kick that cut through the other fillings like Willie Nelson’s voice through your speakers. The roll was soft and crusty. The result was delicious, possibly the best such cold deli sandwich in the Inland Valley.

Half a sandwich would have been fine, by the way, but I went ahead and finished it. And the cookie did not make a liar out of the receipt.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Restaurant of the Week: SpireWorks

SpireWorks Modern Döner, 2129 Baseline Road (at 210), Upland; open daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

SpireWorks is a new chain with locations so far only in Eagle Rock, Westwood and Upland, with Thousand Oaks coming soon. Yes, we are part of the in crowd for a change.

Ours opened in the new Sycamore Hills Plaza straddling the Upland/Claremont border on Baseline immediately east of the 210. It’s kind of amazing to see this center spring to life on rocky, scrubby land I’d never paid any attention to. And now there’s a Whole Foods 365 there. The mind reels.

I met a friend at SpireWorks for lunch a couple of weeks ago, curious about döner after having had some in Germany last year. It’s not unfamiliar if you’ve been to a Mediterranean restaurant where they carve meat off a vertical spit. Döner is what they call that in Europe, where döner kebabs (sandwiches on pita bread) are very popular.

SpireWorks has beef and chicken döner, plus falafel. You can get them as plates, bowls or sandwiches. They also sell salads.

I had a beef döner plate with two sides ($12.50): tabbouleh and hummus. I won’t say I was transported back to Wittenberg, especially without a cobblestone street outside and a Lutheran church nearby, but I enjoyed it. The bread, rather than pita, was unusual.

My friend had a falafel bowl ($9.50), Istanbul style (more on that below), and said she liked the mild flavors. Personally, I think the sauce is overdone, but she gave me some falafel, and it was fine.

The sandwiches come on thick bread, not pita, and salads, sandwiches and bowls can be ordered in one of four styles: Istanbul, Berlin, Greek and Philly (!), the latter with Cheez Whiz. Needless to say, SpireWorks is not offering a purist vision of döner but a compromised, America-friendly version. I don’t entirely approve, but the food is okay, and I can see going back.

I like the faux lemon-crate label wallpaper, by the way.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email