This week’s restaurant: Connal’s, 1226 W. 7th St. (at Mountain), Upland.

Connal’s, which opened Dec. 11, took over the building that housed Mi Taco, a beloved Mexican drive-thru, from 1966 until early 2007. Readers reacted with shock and horror when I broke the news of its passing. I had no idea. When a reader passed along the recipe for the signature dish, the Matador Salad, clipped and saved from an old Daily Report food page, nearly 200 people wrote me requesting a copy.

Connal’s is an interesting story itself, which I will share in Sunday’s column. In brief, it was founded in 1958 in Pasadena and the Upland location is the first expansion in its 50-year existence.

The menu is enormous for a drive-thru burger joint, highlighted by burgers, grinders (or subs, if you prefer), salads, Mexican dishes, hot sandwiches, dinner plates, hot dogs and ice cream. They have flavored sodas, floats, freezes and shakes, including specialty flavors such as pineapple-banana and chocolate-peanut butter. I count 204 items in all.

I went in for lunch during Monday’s downpour. The counterwoman was exceptionally polite; this wasn’t the robotic service one tends to get. I had a tuna melt ($4.39), onion rings ($2.99) and small drink ($1.29).

It was a decent tuna melt, wrapped in paper and cut in half. The onion rings came on a plate, piled high. I ate probably a dozen, which to me is more than enough onion rings for any normal person, and then counted how many I was throwing out: 14.

Last year, I tried the Connal’s in Pasadena and had a burger and fries. The serving of fries was similarly generous, and again, at least half went in the trash. Tip: One serving of fries or onion rings would serve two people, or even three or four.

The Upland interior is white tile, with red accents; it’s vaguely In-N-Outish, except the twin archways separating the counter from the small seating area — six booths, five tables — remain, charmingly, from the Mi Taco days. There’s some nostalgia kitsch on the walls. The exterior is now painted white, and cleaned up, but Connal’s still looks a lot like Mi Taco. Which itself looked like a Taco Bell, even though it wasn’t.

Nice to have a bit of Pasadena out in Upland.

You can view the menu on the Connal’s website.

Pictured: A chicken schnitzel sandwich and German potato salad.

Upland German Delicatessen, 983 W. Foothill Blvd. (at Mulberry), Upland

Underneath Upland’s bland exterior lies, let’s be frank, a bland interior. But between the exterior and the interior lies a strata of fascination. Among the denizens of that realm is what I believe to be the Inland Valley’s sole German restaurant.

It’s one of those quiet gems, tucked away in a dull strip mall behind a Taco Bell and near the Hi Brow bar. For some reason I’d never been there before, a lack I remedied on Monday.

Inside, the deli offers a homey environment. There’s a small seating area with glass-topped tables, German postcards visible from under the glass; and a few shelves of market goods, including imported foods, especially chocolates, and Advent calendars. Cheerful German oompah music played softly. A wall was covered in decorative pieces of wood in which mottos were burned in script. The largest read: “Tough times never last, but tough people do!” A good message right now.

At the counter I ordered one of the combo lunch specials, the Stuttgart sandwich (Black Forest ham, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato and onion) on rye, with German potato salad, a pickle and an iced tea ($9.15 with tax). The meal came on a sectioned plate with real silverware. Excellent sandwich. I hadn’t had German potato salad: It’s finely chopped baked potato, piping hot, mixed with mustard. Interesting, but not my new favorite dish. I almost never eat more than a bite of a pickle but polished this sweet one off.

They also have wienerschnitzel, bratwurst, braunschweiger and other German foods, and they make baked goods such as tortes and strudels. A server brought by samples of plum torte for customers. It was a topper to a memorable, filling meal.

This week’s restaurant/car wash: EZ Take Out Burger/EZ Car Wash, 515 N. Mountain Ave. (at Arrow Highway), Upland.

I suspect this will be a one-week-only permutation of my Restaurant of the Week feature. But why not do a knockoff of myself? EZ Take Out is a transparent copy of In N Out. Yet two of its three Inland Valley locations set themselves apart from any other restaurant you can likely think of by pairing themselves with a car wash.

You can walk up to the window, get a meal and eat at a patio table. You can go through the drive-thru for a meal. Or you can pull into a car wash bay just feet away, drop quarters into the slot and set to work with the wand and the foaming brush. Be careful not to spray the people on the patio!

For the novelty of it, I went in on Sunday, washed my car ($2.50), then parked in the sun and got the Double Take Combo ($6.45 with tax). The Double Take is a double burger with cheese, lettuce, tomato and, if you like, onions. The combo gives you thin-cut fries and a medium soda.

I liked the burger, a gooey, greasy version that came wrapped in paper (gee, that seems familiar), and the fries too. Also, the car wash was fine. The water sprayed automatically, without me having to squeeze the trigger, making EZ a good choice for carpal tunnel sufferers. The pink soap was a colorful touch.

The restaurant menu is simple: single and double burgers, a gardenburger and a chicken sandwich. They also have shakes, including the unusual flavor boysenberry. You can get your burger low-carb style, wrapped in lettuce. Or try it as a Wild Thing, which comes fried in mustard. I guess there’s no “secret menu” at EZ.

The car wash menu is likewise simple: tire cleaner, spray, foaming brush, rinse, wax. Oddly, you switch among them by pressing numbers on a silver keypad that looks exactly like one on a pay phone.

There are eight EZ Take Outs, seven in SoCal and one in Utah. The one at Foothill and Central in Upland, founded in 1969, was the first. The chain’s website is www.eztakeout.com.

Circa 1999, btw, I wrote a feature story for the Bulletin on odd combo businesses. One was a Pomona restaurant that serves burgers, donuts and Chinese food (it’s since added fried chicken). One was an Upland carpet store that sold golf clubs (now out of business, I believe). And the third was the Upland EZ Take Out with a car wash.

The franchise owner was pleasant enough but, even when goaded by questions like “Has there ever been a mixup between the two operations — like you made a milkshake with detergent?”, he assiduously avoided humorous comment.

Feel free to supply your own.

This week’s restaurant: Fratello’s, 1667 N. Mountain Ave. (at 16th), Upland.

There aren’t many places to eat above 16th Street in Upland, which is probably how privacy-lovin’ homeowners up there like it. One of the few exceptions is Fratello’s, which is in the Stater Bros. center along with Rancho Los Magueyes, Happy Wok, Legends and the Bulldog Pub.

I first visited Fratello’s last week. It’s on the small side, just a few tables, a bar and an open kitchen, but the ambience is pleasant enough: golden paint, dark wood, comfortable seating and vintage wine posters. The insistent music may be a bit much.

I tried one of the $5.99 lunch specials: a cheese pizza slice, salad and soda. The salad was above average, aided by the vinaigrette dressing. The pizza was quite good. The crust was uncommonly light and chewy. Based on this slice, Fratello’s is now my second-favorite pizza in Upland (although I still need to try Petrilli’s).

On Thursday I went back for the pasta lunch special (also $5.99): a half-order of either spaghetti or penne, meat sauce or marinara, and a soda. I went for the penne with meat. Pasta is pasta, and hard to mess up, but the sauce was hearty.

So were the ’70s rock classics playing over the sound system: “Blinded By the Light,” “Rocket Man” and “Brown Sugar,” among others. Until the next table asked that the volume be turned down.

This week’s restaurant: New York Pizza Company, 1013 W. Foothill Blvd. (at Mulberry), Upland.

NYPC was formerly located in an obscure part of West 11th Street in the Upland Sports Arena pay-to-play building and moved to Foothill and Mulberry, next to Philly’s Best, a few months ago.

They have a huge array of pizzas with over 50 toppings to choose from, plus salads, pasta, subs and burgers. You order at the counter and they bring your order to your table. It’s clean and comfortable, a very modern interior with corrugated metal accents, and with clocks giving the time in Italy, New York and Upland. One wall, perhaps 15 feet long, is covered with a photo mural of Times Square, with NYPC’s sign Photoshopped in. Ha ha. By the way, can it be true that Times Square has two Sbarros in two blocks? Well, it IS Michael Scott’s favorite N.Y. pizza parlor…

I’ve been to NYPC twice in recent weeks, plus a third visit in their old location a few years back. But I can’t say I’m a fan. The first time was because a friend was working there. I went more recently to check out their new location and possibly blog about it, but a different restaurant that week ended up in this space.

In that visit, I had the pizza slice special (slice, salad and soda) and for whatever reason, the “pizza of the day,” the odd but strangely compelling Baked Ziti Pizza, called to me. It was a slice with, yes, baked ziti pasta, sauce and ricotta cheese on top. It was as weird as it sounds, albeit quite filling.

I decided to go back last week, order a conventional slice and write about it. I got the slice-salad-soda special again, this time with a plain cheese slice ($7.55 with tax).

One thing in NYPC’s favor, you get a lot of food for the money. The salad isn’t bad and the slices are enormous wedges bigger than your head. That said, this doesn’t seem like New York-style pizza to me. The crust is on the thick side, rather stiff, and it’s impossible to fold a slice in half to eat it, as New Yorkers (and those who love them) like to do. You’re just holding this giant triangle with two hands and moving it toward your mouth.

The sauce is rather bland, too, something I’d noticed on previous visits.

I’m a little surprised to be saying this because I like all kinds of pizza (while generally turning up my nose at Domino’s, Little Caesar’s and the like) and really like New York-style pizza. They do very good versions at San Biagio’s in Upland and Anthony’s Italian Kitchen in Rancho Cucamonga.

You may like NYPC’s pizza — people’s taste in pizza varies considerably — but if I go back, it will be to try a sub.

This week’s restaurant: Brandon’s Diner, 8689 Base Line Road (at Carnelian), Rancho Cucamonga; also 870 E. Foothill (at Campus), Upland, and 10271 Magnolia, Riverside.

Brandon’s is a hugely popular breakfast spot, and maybe lunch and dinner spot too. For whatever reason I’d never been there. An online review at the Dinerwood site (an LA guy, he’s also reviewed BC Cafe) caught my eye a while back, so last Saturday, a friend and I went in for breakfast to the Rancho location in the Sunrize Center. Even at 10:30 there were five small groups waiting for a booth, but the wait wasn’t long.

Inside, Brandon’s is surprisingly old-school: tile floor, booths, a long counter with swivel seats and signs with regular daily specials. The kitchen is in the back, not behind the counter. They have the full complement of breakfast items as well as sandwiches, Mexican food and dinner plates, plus beer and wine.

I had the half French toast combo with two eggs and two sausages ($7.45); my friend had Polish sausage, two eggs, home fries and two French toast halves ($7.95).

The French toast was very good, thick and dusted with powdered sugar. They also have a French toast variety with the name Cinnamon Revolution, which seems to promise a spice insurrection in your mouth. (“Vive le Cinnamon Revolution!”)

The sausage links were plump, some of the best I’ve had. However, my over-medium eggs arrived over-easy.

My friend’s Polish sausage, split and grilled, was tasty, and the scrambled eggs very nice when flavored with the two (!) kinds of salsa brought to the table. However, she described her watery coffee as perhaps the worst she’s ever tasted. “This is like gas station coffee,” she said, before quickly deciding that even gas station joe is better.

So Brandon’s isn’t perfect. That said, we enjoyed our meal and the atmosphere, and also the people-watching.

The clientele was diverse — whites, blacks, Latinos — and included a Goth couple, the woman in white gloves, the man in Kiss-style platform boots, striped pants and a belt buckle that read “666.” Goths tend not to smile so it was hard to tell if they were enjoying themselves. They certainly livened the place up for everyone else.