Recently in Inland Valley Eatin' Category

Wednesday's column (read it here) is about Red Hill Coffee Shop, the beloved breakfast spot in Rancho Cucamonga. This was one of those columns that wasn't planned, although as an occasional customer I'd hoped to write about the place sometime. It just happened, as my column explains.

Above, owner Jim Moffatt yuks it up with a couple of regulars on Tuesday. The interior is so small you see about half of it in the photo.

The restaurant is at 8111 Foothill Blvd. (at Grove). A link to the KTLA video mentioned in my column appears a couple of posts down, but I'll repeat the link here.

Rancho Cucamonga breakfast staple Red Hill Coffee Shop was featured on KTLA's morning news on Sunday. See the 3-minute video here. Chris Burrous claims he finished his two enormous pancakes, but we don't see video proof.

Not much point in penning a Restaurant of the Week for Dec. 23, although if you were planning to get a burrito or Thai food this weekend and needed my guidance, my apologies. Instead, let's look back at 2011.

I wrote about visits to 39 restaurants, and to my knowledge only one of them (Buckboard BBQ) later closed. Then there was Freddie Mae's, which closed after my meal but before I could write it up. Hiccups like that, plus vacations and special features like this, kept me from writing 52 RoWs in 52 weeks.

I hit at least one restaurant in every city of our coverage area, from Fontana to Chino Hills.

Among the highlights: Magic Lamp, Pho Ha, Senor Baja, Babylon, Eureka, Corner Deli, The Deli, Roberta's Village Inn, The Heights, Red Chilli House, Nara, Sabor Mexicano and Molly's Souper. None of my meals was terrible or inedible, although lunches at 2nd on 2nd St. and Zeke's came close.

It's too much trouble to look all those up and link to them, but if you'd like to read or reread them, that's what the search function is for, as well as our city-by-city category listings. I'd encourage you to make use of both.

Where did you have a memorably good or bad meal in the Inland Valley in 2011?

Ice cream lovers who like the Handel's in Upland will be thrilled, and maybe chilled, to learn one is coming to Rancho Cucamonga. I spotted this the other day in the Trader Joe's center at Haven and 19th.

Reader Elizabeth Rynear emailed a couple of days later after seeing the same sign. She said the shop will replace a failed frozen yogurt place.

"So, now we have a Farrell's coming and a Handel's as well," she summed up. "God help my waistline!"

A takeout meal? No, leftovers from a single meal at Norms in Claremont. Arriving at 4:50 p.m. one recent Saturday, I ordered off the before-5 menu: soup, salad, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, vegetables and a mini hot fudge sundae, all for $7.99. The food was pretty good. The leftovers, seen here, made for two modest but satisfying meals.

This time, 54 trucks are confirmed, as well as seven breweries, a new feature. The list of trucks is here. The festival, at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, lasts from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The first one, in June, drew a reported 11,800 people.

Ontario had a food truck festival in June that was a major deal, with a repeat scheduled for Oct. 8. Chino beat Ontario to the punch, however, with a smaller festival in April to benefit the Chino Valley Unified School District. A second one took place Saturday, again at Don Lugo High.

Fourteen trucks were represented at the Foodie Truck Festival, as it's dubbed. Very nice event, with short, manageable lines and a good range of trucks selling Korean, Mexican, Italian, Filipino, Japanese, American and other foods. LudoBites, Rebel Bites, Bool, Don Chow, Buttermilk, SliceTruck and Pie 'n' Burger were among the trucks.

Coolhaus, which sells gourmet ice cream sandwiches, had 20-minute waits at its peak, the longest of the day. I was in line twice as long for the same truck in Ontario. The peanut butter ice cream inside chocolate chip cookies hit the spot on a hot afternoon.

Below, the saddest sight of the festival: Someone's spilled cupcake from My Delight.

You've probably noticed our geographical restaurant guide over in the Categories section at lower right. Restaurants that I've visited for Restaurant of the Week writeups since this blog began in September 2007 are separated by city for your searching convenience. The lists aren't at all comprehensive, but they grow longer all the time.

To my knowledge, all of these restaurants are still in operation, even if the writeups are anywhere from one week to nearly four years old. If a restaurant closes, and I know about it, I move the writeup to the Inland Valley Eatin' category with a note on top that the restaurant has closed. That's my way of hiding the review so no one drives to the place on my say-so.

If you ever notice that a restaurant in our archives is no longer in business, drop me a line and I'll take the appropriate action.

In recent weeks I've moved Buckboard BBQ (Upland) and Phillips BBQ (Chino) to the Eatin' file after their closures.

General restaurant topics are also in the Inland Valley Eatin' category. The Eateries Past subcategory is mostly for "Remember when" posts about various classic restaurants.

While we're on the subject, older restaurant writeups (2007 and 2008) didn't have photos, as none of us Bulletin bloggers knew how to incorporate them (our training was zilch), but that's something I'm very slowly remedying.

I'm not going to re-eat my way through those restaurants, but now and then I'll revisit a place and at least photograph the exterior. Usually I note here on the home page when photos are added to an old post.

Any questions or comments on any of the above, or on something else regarding my restaurant writeups?

A rare convergence at Glendora's Donut Man on Sunday: their fresh strawberry donuts, just ending their season, and their fresh peach donuts, just beginning their season, overlapped. A group of us got a group of donuts; here are two. There was no consensus on whether strawberry or peach was better. "The peach is sweet," one friend said, "and the strawberry is sweet and tart."

An LA Weekly food writer, following up her "30 Burgers in 30 Days" project, downed "30 Scoops in 30 Days," bingeing on ice cream and gelato. Unlike her meat marathon, this one brought her to the 909.

Elina Shatkin visited Handel's in Upland and concluded: "If all you ever know of Upland is this strip-mall ice cream shop, it's well worth the trip." (I hope she visited San Biagio's too while she was there.)

Shatkin also visited Farrell's in Santa Clarita; a Farrell's has been proposed for Rancho Cucamonga, and longtime residents will remember the long-defunct one at Montclair Plaza.

Her wrapup gives Handel's an honorable mention and lists Dr. Bob's at the L.A. County Fair as a bonus -- while giving the Fair's location as Claremont. Has the Fair moved from Pomona? This might be her 31st scoop.

Great writeups, though. Her visits -- see the full list here -- even included Rite Aid for its delicious Chocolate Malted Krunch flavor.

Back in February I wrote a few lines in my column about the debut of the Ovitt Meatloaf Sandwich, served at the Page One Cafe adjoining Ontario's Ovitt Family Community Library (215 E. C St). But I didn't present a photo.

Let me rectify that oversight with this loving photo of the sandwich ($7.50), which consists of sliced meatloaf on a sourdough roll dressed with garlic butter, sliced provolone, shredded parmesan and horseradish mayo. It's named for Gary Ovitt, the current county supervisor and former mayor for whom meatloaf was a childhood favorite.

Supporting your local library is rarely this delicious -- or is this fattening.

The once-popular Cafe Calato Italian restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga evidently has closed for good, at least for now. In a business park on Center Street just above Fourth Street, a stone's throw from Ontario, and just down the street from our newsroom, Cafe Calato served inexpensive pastas and pizzas.

There was no note on the door Saturday and no activity. Based on Yelp comments, the restaurant closed around the beginning of June.

I don't know much about Cafe Calato's history, but it was in business in 1997 when I started at the Bulletin. A friend tells me the restaurant changed hands about three years ago and that the owner is having health problems. He offered his staff the chance to stay employed by running the place themselves, as long as they kept the place up to his standards. He visited a few days later, found the place a mess and, since that reflected on him, fired everyone and shut the doors instead.

Some people say what they mean and mean what they say, it seems.

* Meanwhile, I've also been told the new owner ran the place into the ground and cut a lot of corners, resulting in the C grade mentioned in the comments and a loss of business.

** Cafe Calato reopened under a new owner/chef in October.

Boy, did the crowds turn out for Saturday's first Inland Empire Food Truck Festival. They were expecting 12,000 by the end of the day and looked on track to do it.

More than 50 food trucks from L.A. and Orange counties were parked in a lot at Ontario's Citizens Business Bank Arena, serving up trendy foodstuffs. Tacos, perhaps the IE's comestible of choice, might have Chinese or Korean fillings. A hot dog might be topped with Japanese yakisoba noodles. Other items might simply be chefly takes on chicken or fries or ice cream.

I had an Asian chicken taco from Komodo, chicken balls and a biscuit from LudoTruck, a chicken pastel from Ta Bom, tamarind chicken sweet potato fries from Frysmith and a blood orange sorbet from Coolhaus.

(I meant to try Mandoline Tacos, which a reader had recommended, but forgot. The Grilled Cheese Truck, recommended by another, had a two-hour wait for most of the day.)

Did I enjoy myself? Mildly. Waits were often half an hour, and while a long wait somewhere for a single truck can build anticipation, multiple long waits when you're trying to take a smorgasbord approach can be a drag, especially under the hot sun, or when you get to the front of a line to find the item you wanted was sold out (as happened at Coolhaus, where by mid-afternoon they were out of ice cream sandwiches).

The best strategy might have been to hit any place with a short line. I did a little of that. Another strategy would have been to go mid-afternoon. When I left at 3, the lines were a bit shorter, although the tradeoff would be that some items were sold out. Yet another strategy might have been to bring a book to help kill time in line.

Will there be a second festival? Based on the response, I'd imagine so, and I'm pretty sure I would attend.

If you went, what did you eat, and what did you think?

Are you going? The first Inland Empire Food Truck Festival takes place Saturday at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. More than 50 food trucks will take over the arena's parking lot all day, providing a sort of smorgasbord on wheels. Some from this truck, some from that truck...

Customers pay a fee of $10 to enter the festival and then can purchase items at whichever trucks they like.

I have my ticket (bought at the box office at the earlybird rate of $8). Will I see you there?

Food trucks, as you may know, are a hot trend around the streets of L.A. We don't see many of them in our end of L.A. County and they're currently banned (other than for special occasions like this) in San Bernardino County, making this a welcome event.

I'm no expert on food truck culture, so I can't say with any certainty if the list is heavy or light on the good trucks, but the list certainly has some evocative names. Kogi isn't among them, but Coolhaus, Bacon Mania, the Grilled Cheese Truck, Nom Nom and Frysmith are names I've heard, and the fact that they're coming bodes well.

Anyone more versed in food trucks want to rate the lineup or recommend trucks/items?

Yangtze Chinese Restaurant in downtown Ontario marked its 50th anniversary on April 22. Reader Jane Vath O'Connell shares a copy of an old menu. Click on the thumbnail below for a readable view. One highlight: "Lobster Cantonese $2.35 (Shelled $2.45)." I say, live it up and pay the extra dime.

CLOSED APRIL 2011

Buckboard BBQ and Grill, 1386 E. Foothill Blvd. (at Grove), Upland

Opened in 1991, Buckboard BBQ occupies a spot in the Red Hill Center largely occupied by automotive shops. I've been there a few times over the years, pleasantly, and returned a couple of times recently due to tire repair. Drop off your car at lunchtime, eat at Buckboard, pick up your car. I recommend it.

The restaurant is bright and clean and sports a cowboy motif, going along with its name. You order at the counter and they bring your food to you.

Off the express lunch menu, I had the pork rib special ($7; drink extra). It arrives in a basket with fresh cut fries, slaw and three ribs. They were short, about six inches long, but meaty, trimmed in St. Louis style and with only a squirt of sauce on each. Good meal.

The meats are smoked Santa Maria style over hickory. I'm no devotee of regional barbecuing but you're free to compare Buckboard to Red Hill BBQ across Grove and report back.

Next visit I had the barbecue chicken sandwich combo with fries and soda ($5). It made for a light, inexpensive lunch.

I hear the tri-tip is especially good and ought to get that next time, hopefully without the side of tire trouble.

Find the menu on Buckboard's website.

The roots of Taco Bell can be found in San Bernardino. Journalist Gustavo Arellano did a photo essay for OC Weekly on Berdoo sites connected with the chain.

The L.A. Times' Food section Thursday has a feature on Shauna James Ahern, a Washington state resident diagnosed in 2005 with celiac disease who now has a popular blog, Gluten-Free Girl, with recipes to eliminate gluten (found in foods with wheat, barley and rye) as well as what the Times called "gloriously decadent food photos."

Ahern is described as having grown up "in Claremont and Pomona."

This reminded me that Claremont is home to StellaLucy, a market at 101 N. Indian Hill Blvd. specializing in gluten-free foods.

Yes, it all ties together somehow (at least in my mind).

Ontario native Charles Phoenix made the front page of the Wall Street Journal on Nov. 6 with a fun story about a holiday dessert he created that's catching on: the "cherpumple."

The story describes it as "a three-layer cake with an entire pie baked into each layer -- a cherry pie baked inside a white cake, a pumpkin pie baked inside a yellow cake and an apple pie baked inside a spice cake. He stacked the layers and sealed them with a coat of cream-cheese frosting."

"I was inspired," he says, "to combine all my family's traditional holiday desserts into one."

Watch a 5-minute video of the L.A. author and humorist in the kitchen, and see the recipe, here.

Phoenix, by the way, will offer his "Retro Holiday Slide Show" in Pomona on Dec. 11 at the NHRA Museum. Details here.

Fresh peach donut from the Donut Man in Glendora. I'm a fan of their fresh strawberry donuts and had never tried their fresh peach until buying this ($2.80) over Labor Day Weekend. It's just as good as the strawberry. Get it while you can -- it's seasonal.

My interview with KPCC-FM's Alex Cohen about Inland Valley dining was bumped Friday for bigger news, in this case, Daryl Gates' death. Well, being in the news biz, I know how that goes. The Pasadena-based station (89.3) did, however, post the interview online. You can access it here. Focusing on local restaurants heavy on character, I talk about Ramon's Cactus Patch and Vince's Spaghetti, both in Ontario, and Centro Basco in Chino.

The Korean tacos (?!) everyone raves about have been showing up around L.A. County via taco trucks, with the location available via Twitter or website. Foodies show up in droves to stand in long lines for what are said to be excellent tacos with Korean short ribs and quesadillas with kimchi. (See menu here.)

Former colleague Dustin Lehren alerts me that the truck will gingerly cross the very edge of the Inland Valley on Saturday. The truck is scheduled to park at Valley Boulevard at Temple Avenue in Pomona, at the edge of Cal Poly, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and then will be at 1317 S. Diamond Bar Blvd. in Diamond Bar from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Can the Claremont Colleges be far behind? In the meantime, let's welcome Kogi to the 909 -- and pray it doesn't rain.

This mural appears on the sandwich shop at 724 W. Holt Blvd., Ontario. I shot this months ago and forgot to share it here. Very belated 50th anniversary, Grinder Haven!

Restaurants fail all the time, sometimes for the good of community tastebuds, some for the worse, but the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce is alarmed enough by the number of closings in Chino and Chino Hills to appeal to the public.

"Because of the influx of new restaurants in the south Chino and Chino Hills area, many of the longer established restaurants all around Chino Valley are struggling to keep the
doors open," writes the chamber's Jean Christy.

In Chino Hills, Que Pasa and Bad Bob's BBQ both closed recently. Chino lost Black Angus and On the Border, both at the Spectrum, and Dickey's BBQ. (The latter especially bothered Christy because it participated in the chamber's annual Taste of the Chino Valley.)

"If that is not bad enough," Christy writes, "an icon in the Chino Valley for 15 to 20 years -- Marie Callender's in Chino Town Square -- MAY be closing effective Jan. 3." She says Callender's participates in Taste of the Chino Valley and the Dairy Festival and also contributes to other community events.

The chamber has contacted the Callender's local manager (613-0434) and the corporate office (800-776-7437, ext. 5302) to voice its concern and encourages the public to do the same.

"A groundswell of support for keeping this long-time major participant in local Chino Valley life would at least let their corporate offices know that we value them," Christy says. She adds: "Phone calls of support are one thing, but a more important demonstration of support is to DINE there."

And before Jan. 3, obviously. The restaurant is at 5455-A Philadelphia St. at Central Avenue, just north of the 60 Freeway.

* UPDATE: Apparently it's saved. See the comments.

Reader Ernie Alvater writes this week:

"Any idea what happened to the Spires Restaurant at Foothill & Haven in Rancho Cucamonga? It was open and busy last week, then suddenly it was closed with a sign in the window reading 'OUT OF BUSINESS.' It's sad, because they had a very nice staff and very reasonable prices. Maybe that's what did them in -- the reasonable prices, not the nice staff!"

I have no inside info but would take the sign at its word. Must have been busy, but not busy enough. (There's still a Spires at Vineyard and Holt in Ontario.)

Fun fact: The multi-sided white building on Foothill west of Haven began as a Spires, became Foothill Grill in 2000 and reverted to a Spires in 2007. Question: Can we get Foothill Grill back?

Jay Phillips tends to chicken, ribs and links cooking in the restaurant's brick oven Wednesday. Below, the rib tip dinner.

CLOSED MAY 2011

Phillips BBQ, 11798 Central Ave. (at Francis), Chino.

Phillips is a big name for barbecue in L.A. and my column today is devoted to the chain's surprising arrival in Chino, in a strip mall in north Chino perhaps a mile or two south of Mission Boulevard and formerly home to Clark's BBQ.

If you've had Phillips' food in L.A., this seems to me to be a comparable experience, although I've only been to an L.A. location once, about six years ago. I've had two meals in Chino so far. (I paid for both, as per my policy.)

The rib tip dinner ($10.55) comes with two sides and two slices of white bread for mopping up the sauce. I got two meals out of it; also, two small stains on my shirt. The pulled pork sandwich ($3.52) has meat chopped so fine it's like a sloppy Joe; the sandwich had to be scarfed down quickly before the bun fell apart, although this was no chore. Both meals were delicious.

(My only problem with the sandwich was when I later realized I'd been charged 89 cents for my sandwich's side of cole slaw, which is supposed to come with. Even at that, my lunch, including a soda, was a mere $5.48 with tax. The same combo at the Dickey's chain costs $7.07 and, while acceptable, isn't nearly as good.)

This is the first Phillips location with a dining room. It's a little bare, but clean and bright, with new tables and chairs. All food comes in a takeout container. This isn't the full restaurant experience, like at Joey's or Lucille's, but the prices are cheaper and you can box up your own leftovers to take home just by closing the lid.

The menu has sandwiches, dinners, the standard sides, small and large trays for parties or events and individual desserts such as 7-Up cake, red velvet cake, peach cobbler and sweet potato pie.

One note about the prices: They're all odd. A rib dinner, for instance, is priced at $13.18, baby backs will run you $14.66 and a beef link sandwich is $9.37. Manager Jay Phillips says tax is included in all purchases, accounting for the creative pricing.

Candidly, I'm not a big barbecue guy, eating the stuff a couple of times per year. Some people, or at least some men, like arguing the finer points of various barbecue styles. I don't know one from another. So I'm no expert. Disregard my opinion if you like. But for whatever it's worth, Phillips' barbecue is very good, certainly the best I've had, and I will be eating a lot more of it with them in the neighborhood.

If you'd like a more knowledgeable recommendation, read Jonathan Gold's take here (but scroll down a bit to find it on the page).

For the record, The New Diner blog broke the news about Phillips' arrival in Chino. My bib is off to them.

In conversation with me recently, author and Ontario native Charles Phoenix was recalling the burger joints of his 1960s-1970s youth. I'll list them below; the descriptions are mine.

Burger Bandit: At 4th and Grove, this stand's mascot was a man in a burglar mask. Demolished (I think?).

Hamburger Ding-a-Ling: At D and Euclid, this restaurant's oddball concept was to have telephones at each booth, which customers would use to phone in their order. The food would be delivered to the table. Now demolished.

Burger Lane: At San Antonio and Holt. It's now Sammy Burger.

Burger Q*: On Mountain at G Street. The Q, Phoenix says, referred to a "queue," as in a line, as in, you line up for burgers. (*I inadvertently left this place off the list even though it did come up in our conversation. Because a couple of commenters asked about it, I'll retroactively add it here for completeness' sake.)

Andy's Burgers: At Holt and Sultana (I think?), this drive-in moved to Holt and Lemon circa 2004. There's a second one in Chino.

Before our conversation, Phoenix had dropped in at Andy's to chat with the staff and learned that it opened in 1969. That's 40 years ago.

If Andy's has survived four decades, Phoenix mused, that puts them ahead of all the competition.

"They would be the official hamburger of Ontario," Phoenix declared.

What do you think?

Photo of Weiland Brewery's cheeseburger and garlic fries by Jeff Aragaki

Upland reader Jeff Aragaki writes:

"In your jaunts to downtown LA, have you eaten at a place called Weiland Brewery? There's two locations: one in JTown and one underground on Flower St. at 5th. If you have, did you try the garlic fries? They're actually garlic, parmesan cheese and parsley fries. To die for."

Good choice of words. Jeff continues:

"What I'm looking for is anywhere near us that has similar french fries. Any ideas?"

As I told Jeff, I haven't been to Weiland Brewery nor do I know of any garlic fry opportunities in the Inland Valley, other than the Gordon Biersch stand at Epicenter Stadium. There's a Biersch in Old Town Pasadena if you're willing to travel that far.

Angel's Place in La Verne serves "Greek fries" with oregano, parmesan and feta -- interesting, but no garlic.

Readers, can any of you help out Jeff with some local garlic fries?

CLOSED 2011

This week's restaurant: The Basil, 1845 E. Holt Blvd. (at Vineyard), Ontario.

Part of a sharp-looking new complex on the northwest corner of Holt and Vineyard, the Basil is by a Quizno's, a Starbucks and a child welfare office, with the restaurants obviously aimed at the hotel crowd nearby. The Basil has certainly been anticipated here in our newsroom a few blocks away, the "coming soon" banner for months having drawn my colleagues' curiosity. I round the corner there on way to Ontario council meetings twice a month and always glance over.

Well, the Basil finally opened in late August, after a long gestation. A couple of us went there for dinner Wednesday.

Inside, the Basil is done in shades of gold, tasteful art on the walls, a candle at each table, a shiny bar specializing in martinis against one wall. The look is very modern and upscale. The Basil, one has to acknowledge, is almost certainly the hippest atmosphere anywhere on Holt from Ontario all the way through Pomona.

Given the attention lavished on the setting, however, the menu was a letdown. Billed as "Thai-European cuisine," the restaurant promises a fusion of disparate cuisines in creative new dishes. Instead, it's standard Thai food, plus fettucine alfredo and spaghetti. Other than seafood ka-pow, the only fish on the menu is deep-fried orange roughy.

Adjusting our expectations, we went with mas-a-man pork ($10.95), a peanut and coconut milk curry with potatoes and onions, and drunken noodles with tofu ($9.95), flat rice noodles with chile, bell pepper, onion, cabbage, tomato and basil.

The dishes were okay, the tofu entree being better than the pork, although my friend was less satisfied than I was with the latter. She noticed that the potato was mushy and the onion crisp, indicating the dish was assembled from other parts rather than cooked together.

The kitchen brought out free fried banana for all the tables that evening. Dipped in coconut flakes and fried, the banana was the one unequivocal success of the night.

For that corner of Ontario, the Basil is welcome, and the mildly swanky bar might become a popular spot. For Thai entrees in the $10 to $20 price range, however, locals would be better off at Green Mango or Thai-T in Rancho Cucamonga or Taste of Asia in La Verne, where the menus are more imaginative and the cooking more expert.

CLOSED IN 2010

This week's restaurant: Bistro Roti, 1041 E. 16th St. (at Upland Hills), Upland.

Bistro Roti is in the business center immediately west of Upland Hills Country Club. The name refers to the restaurant's wood-burning rotisserie. I tried the place out for lunch the other day.

The interior is upscale-casual. A flat-screen TV was silently showing the Food Network and three other tables were occupied. The lunch menu has salads, sandwiches, pastas and pizza; the dinner menu is more ambitious with steaks, chops and seafood entrees from $16 to $45. They also do breakfast. (See the menus on the bistro's website.)

I went casual with a tuna melt on sourdough with fries ($9.25). I've mentioned before that a tuna melt is my baseline sandwich. (This remained true even though Upland uses 16th Street as its name for Base Line, ha ha.) No, seriously, a tuna melt is what I tend to order to judge whether a place is putting any effort into its food.

Well, the Bistro Roti tuna melt displays real effort. It tasted like, and was, according to the server, made from real tuna, not tuna from a can. Chopped onions, celery and shredded cheese completed the effect. The fries were thin and crispy. At first I thought they were nothing special, but then I noticed I was finishing them. A small dish of ketchup was delivered rather than a bottle, a nice touch. The service was prompt and professional.

Bistro Roti merits further investigation. The only obvious drawback is that when you look out the windows, or sit out on the patio, your view is of for-lease signs in the center's numerous empty spaces. A sign of the times. But the quality of the food proved distracting.

Nancy's, the Rancho Cucamonga breakfast and lunch spot whose obituary appeared here recently, is returning from the dead like Lazarus, only with pancakes.

The reopening is Monday, April 20. The new name will be Nancy May's '50s Cafe. My column has the details.

Courtesy Pomona Public Library Special Collections

Each week, author Charles Phoenix sends out an e-mail with his "Slide of the Week," featuring a vintage, and usually silly, photo rescued from someone's collection of slides. (Sign up for his e-mails on his website.) The accompanying message describes the photo and sometimes goes off on an entertaining tangent.

Such was the case recently when Phoenix, a native of Ontario, shared a photo of a man eating a chicken sandwich in front of chicken-patterened wallpaper (!). Phoenix passed along a recipe:

"My recipe is inspired by the chicken salad sandwich that I devoured many times as a teenager lunching with friends at the oh-so-elegant Palomares Room Restaurant at Buffums' department store in Pomona, CA.

"Their special nutty-fruity version of the Americana lunchtime classic is quite memorable. It was served on raisin bread and it had nuts I it. I would have it for lunch every time we ditched our fifth and sixth period classes to go thrift shopping in Pomona. Lunch at Buffums' was always our first stop. And yes, the thrift shopping was always a learning experience.

"I will be using Miracle Whip to bind and enhance the flavor of all the chopped bits that make this sandwich so delicious. Miracle Whip is an Americana condiment of the highest order. Kraft Foods first introduced the mayonnaise wannabe at the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Fair. According the legend the tangy-fatty, emulsified mystery matter is seasoned with 20 different spices. All the better to make your chicken salad sandwiches taste their best!"

His recipe, which apparently is an approximation of the Buffums' sandwich rather than being the exact version, goes like this, in his words:

Fruity-Nutty Chicken Salad Sandwiches

8 chicken breasts baked the night before

1 cup finely chopped celery

I cup declumped raisins

I cup finely chopped walnuts meats

2 cups Miracle Whip

16 pieces of fresh buttered white bread (toasted or not)

Chop the breasts into small bite size pieces. (Careful not to make them too large because no one wants to choke on a chicken sandwich!) Mix in other ingredients and bind it together with Miracle Whip. (And NO the lo-cal version won't ever do!) Salt and pepper and generously spread between two slices of bread. Press the palm of your hand down firmly over the sandwich to 'glue' it together. Slice diagonally and serve with chilled long sliced curled carrot strips and your favorite pickles.

Makes 8 sandwiches

CLOSED

This week's restaurant: The Seafood Kitchen, 612 N. Euclid Ave. (at F Street), Ontario.

The Seafood Kitchen is a newcomer to downtown Ontario, taking over a venerable location. Walter's Coffee Shop was there from 1960 to 1980, succeeded by El Mexicano II, which was there from 1982 to 2008. (Thanks to the Ontario Library's Kelly Zackmann for the research.)

Two restaurants in 48 years? That would seem to bode well for Seafood Kitchen's longevity, except that when I was there for lunch on a recent Monday, there were only two other diners. Hope it was an off day.

The menu is heavy on shrimp, leavened with scallop, cod, whitefish, catfish, calamari, snow crab and tilapia items. Some are battered and fried, others are steamed or grilled. The presentation is partly Mexican, partly Cajun, partly Asian. That must explain my order, the No. 4 combo ($6.95), which consisted of shrimp scampi atop chow mein, with Cajun fries on the side.

The meal came with a dozen small tail-on shrimp atop chow mein noodles with bits of celery, cabbage, carrots, onions and pineapple. The fries were the crispy kind you get at Popeyes. There was some Asian-style marinated cabbage on the side.

You have to give them points for creativity. And even though the result seemed like a reject from the Panda Express test kitchen, it wasn't bad, and the service was friendly. The menu includes several seafood tacos and salads, Cajun hot wings, ramen soup, lunch combos from $3.95 to $6.95 and dinner platters up to $12.95. They also have beer and wine.

Although the concept could use some focus, the interior space is classic mid-century coffee shop. Small lamps are suspended over the booths on long cords from the sloping ceiling. A giant plate-glass window fronts Euclid. The whole effect is striking and, I would imagine, largely unchanged since the Walter's days. If you're a nostalgist, take a look.

THIS RESTAURANT HAS REOPENED. READ UPDATE WRITEUP HERE.

This week's restaurant: Nancy's Cafe, 9759 Arrow Route (at Archibald), Rancho Cucamonga.

Crucial note: After I finished a version of this Restaurant of the Week piece Thursday afternoon, a cook at Nancy's phoned to tell me the restaurant is closing for good FRIDAY, a victim of the economy. That's TODAY, for most of you reading this. This is a hard blow, and a surprise, because Nancy's used to always be packed. [UPDATE: I tried to go in for breakfast Friday but at 7:15 a.m. the place was locked and dark, with no sign of life or of explanation.]

Nancy's was a modest gem, a just-folks diner serving up breakfast and lunch from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. The setting was a small, slightly rundown strip mall behind a Jack in the Box, although the non-Jack restaurants are a foodie's delight: Guido's, an Italian deli, and Los Jalapenos, a taqueria, both among the city's best.

I've been eating at Nancy's for years -- infrequently, true, but Nancy's was always there when I needed it. The cheery interior was stuffed with kitsch, some of it '50s-themed, much of it related to pigs. There was a tiny pig figurine on a tiny swing suspended from the ceiling in the waiting area, more pig figurines at most of the tables, pigs on the walls, pigs at the cash register.

Breakfast had all the standards, served in big portions. The french toast combo ($7) was especially good, as was the french toast covered in brown sugar and oats, dubbed the Annie Oatley ($7.75). I was also an admirer of the lemon pancakes ($7.75). The sausage here was above-average.

Red Hill Coffee Shop, Brandon's Diner, Kickback Jack's and Nancy's make up the shortlist of Rancho Cucamonga's best breakfast spots. I like 'em all, but Nancy's was my favorite, with the ambience a big plus.

For whatever reason, I'd never tried Nancy's for lunch until Wednesday. They had a variety of hot and cold sandwiches, salads and even barbecued ham and chicken. I got the meatloaf sandwich ($7), on toasted sourdough, with tomatoes, lettuce and onions, and it was a pretty good version.

My colleague Joe Blackstock advised me to get a burger ($7.25) and ask for it on grilled sourdough. I wasn't in the mood for that much meat on Wednesday. Oh well.

I thought Nancy's would always be there for me. But let me salute Frank and Nancy Clark for years of good food, friendly service and goofy kitsch. I'll miss 'em.

Anyone have memories of Nancy's to share?

Somebody told me recently that the exemplary Corner Butcher Shop in La Verne (2359 Foothill) sometimes offers $1 hot dogs as a special. Days later, from another source, a coupon for same was forwarded to me. You can find it, and print it, by clicking here. You can also read more about the shop here.

Tried to have lunch Monday at Sansai Grill, a fast-casual Japanese place in the Mountain Green Center in Upland, but found the door locked and the interior cleaned out.

Too bad. I wouldn't have had sushi there, but they had a nice seared ahi tuna sashimi salad, and the salmon bowl, which was actually a plate, was good too.

Oh well. The La Verne location is still in business at 1263 Foothill Blvd.

Victoria Gardens has lost the three above-named restaurants recently. Nathan's closed a while back in the Food Hall. Wapango and Sisley, two sit-down restaurants, closed in the past week. (Wapango was by Gyu-Kaku and Fleming's; Sisley was by the AMC.)

Heck, Wapango, a pan-Latin restaurant, only opened in July. You can read my "Restaurant of the Week" piece about them and weep. I never wrote about Sisley but had had one meal at the Italian restaurant and enjoyed it quite a bit. Kept meaning to go back for a special occasion, but you know how it goes.

As for Nathan's, that was the cruelest blow for yours truly. I ate there a half-dozen times. It was more in the journalist price range. Good dogs, and I liked their fries too.

Are you familiar with chili mac? According to Jane and Michael Stern's book "Road Food," it's a Midwestern specialty: spaghetti noodles topped with chili.

I'd had it only once, years ago, but read about it in the Sterns' book before my recent St. Louis trip and was intrigued. Seeing it on the menu at Crown Candy Kitchen, I ordered it. (Later I checked the book again and realized the Sterns had recommended the chili mac at a different establishment.)

Here's what you get: a soup bowl filled with spaghetti and chili (no beans), and, if you want 'em, cheddar and onions. I did. Adding to the silliness, on the side you get a package of oyster crackers, those small, six-sided crackers that come with chowder or chili but, um, rarely with spaghetti.

Strange it may be, the platypus of entrees, but chili mac was actually pretty tasty. I cleaned my bowl. Anyone else ever tried this regional specialty, or another one of which most Californians would be unaware?

CLOSED

This week's restaurant: Pittsburgh Broasted Chicken and Subs, 669 Indian Hill Blvd. (at Holt), Pomona.

This restaurant opened a few months back north of the old Food 4 Less in a strip mall that is also home to Christy's Donuts, a nail salon, 98 Cent Plus and a Vietnamese sandwich shop. The space's previous occupant was the shortlived Sushi 4 U, which I liked to imagine was run by a Prince acolyte.

PBC, as I'm going to call it for brevity, was empty when I ventured in for a mid-afternoon meal this week. The interior appears clean and bright. You order at the counter. I think the owners are Korean American.

I got the 2 piece dinner plus a soda ($6.69). (It was only after ordering that I noticed "lunch specials" on the menu. D'oh! It's tough trying to absorb a new menu while someone is waiting for you to order.)

They gave me my choice of pieces, so I went with a breast and thigh. You also have a choice of four styles: original, plain, lemon pepper or cajun. (Begging the question, what is the difference between original and plain?) I went with lemon pepper. The dinner comes with a side of slaw, potato salad, macaroni salad or baked beans; I went for the slaw.

The dinner was made to order and came out after 15 minutes. The meal was served in a basket that was heaped with potato squares, kind of like Wendy's fries except in cubes. They were pretty good. The slaw was standard. There was a roll too.

As for the chicken, it was impressive. I have limited experience with broasted chicken -- who doesn't? -- but the mysterious process of broasting somehow involves both pressure cooking and deep frying. As they say on this Chowhound thread, don't try this at home. You can read a more official version at the official broasting website. Scroll down for an apt quote from a "West Wing" episode.

The PBC version of broasted chicken had crispy skin and very moist, flavorful meat, even if the lemon and pepper were too subtle for me. (Maybe lemon pepper, original and plain are all the same.)

The meal was a good deal for the money. All in all, a pleasant surprise.

PBC has also been reviewed by the IE Restaurants blog and by the Student in Pomona blog, which rates it No. 1 in Pomona, even above (gasp) Donahoo's. Heresy!

I wouldn't go that far, but if you like chicken, you ought to give PBC a try. The restaurant doesn't deserve to be empty.

Under a new law, chain restaurants in Calorie-fornia will have to post calorie counts and grams of fat starting in 2011, and provide brochures with that information starting July 1, 2009. But some restaurants are getting a head start.

I ate at a Chick-fil-A in Ontario recently and nutritional information for every menu item was printed on the tray liner. Not that it did me a lot of good, since the liner came under the food I'd already ordered, but it made for good lunchtime reading. If I'd gone for the chargrilled chicken instead of the regular breaded chicken, I'd have saved 130 calories and cut the fat from 16 grams to 3.

Did you know their cole slaw has 32 grams of fat? That's only one gram less than the Cookies and Cream milk shake, the fattiest item on the menu! Waffle fries, with 13 fat grams, are actually better for you than the slaw. Methinks some tinkering with the recipe is in order.

The same week, I also visited -- on the opposite end of the valley, and the fussiness meter -- Le Pain Quotidien in Claremont, where they're now putting calorie counts on the menu. Very helpful, except in the case of beverages. A note explains that calories for beverages range from "5 to 195." I'd like one closer to 5, please!

CLOSED

Nayu's Peruvian Restaurant, 4380 Holt Ave. (at Ramona), Montclair.

A few of us from work had lunch at Nayu's last week after a recommendation from our colleague Elaine Lehman. It turns out to be located in the slightly seedy, if hilariously named, Larry's Plaza, which I visited in May, to my horror.

Nayu's currently has no sign but it's in Suite K and is, well, the place without the sign. Inside the place is reasonably comfortable and the service was friendly. There's an A in the window too. This was looking up.

I had the lomo saltado (sirloin, peppers, onions, tomatoes and fries, with rice, $9.99) and an Inca Cola. Two others had pollo saltado (the same but with chicken), another had lomo chow mein and a fifth had a ceviche.

We all liked our food quite a bit, and the portions were so large we each took some home. The ceviche may have had too many onions but was loaded with good-sized shrimp and had sides of sweet potato and corn.

I'd say Nayu's is comparable to Kikiryki in Claremont, except Nayu's has table service.

As we ate, a TV played soccer in Spanish, then switched to the studio, where a man was wearing a crown and an ermine cape, carrying a scepter and carrying on to the amusement of the other soccer commentators. Meanwhile, in the restaurant, a customer entered wearing a T-shirt with this message: "I got out of bed for this?" I hope he found his meal worth the trouble.

CLOSED 2010

This week's restaurant: Mel's Drive-In, 11550 4th St. (at Richmond Place), Rancho Cucamonga.

After an incredibly long gestation of more than a year, Mel's finally opened recently in the Signature Center across from Ontario Mills. (The north side of 4th is in Rancho.) There's nothing "drive-in" about it. Forget car hops; Mel's is in a pleasant but corporate-looking shopping center.

It's part of a chain. The original Mel's was used in "American Graffiti" and was later razed. The restaurant name and style were revived in the 1980s on San Francisco's Lombard Street; I've been to that one a couple of times. You can read the history at the chain's website.

Inside the Rancho Cucamonga location, Mel's has rather successfully updated the diner motif for 2008. High ceilings and a somewhat industrial look, yes, but a chrome-edged counter, mini-jukeboxes at some tables and employees in white paper hats and bow ties.

I've now been to this Mel's twice. Last week I had the half-sandwich, half-salad combo ($6.95) with a meatloaf sandwich and spring salad. The salad was better than average and I wasn't disappointed with the meatloaf. On Friday I returned for a 1/3-pound Mel Burger and fries (also $6.95). They came on a real plate and passed the taste test. There seems to be an attention to quality ingredients here.

They have a long, varied menu of American comfort food staples, some in healthier style than the originals. I suspect Mel's will become part of my lunchtime circuit.

The only obvious flaw: The awning over the entrance reads "Where the Local's Meet to Eat." Ditch the apostrophe and you're golden, Mel's.

Here's a note from reader Wes Ray:

"You wrote an column a few months ago about Upland not changing the Foothill Boulevard name to Route 66. Since that time my wife and I have conducted a loose survey of Foothill Boulevard from Central Avenue to Grove Avenue.

"We saw only one restaurant, of any size, we would call a sitdown restaurant only. That was Coco's at Euclid. We could have missed some minor sitdowns in the back of shopping centers, but if so they were unknown to us and we have lived in Upland since 1964."

Wes, I appreciate your legwork, and I can understand your frustration at the numerous fast-food chains along the street. The days of the grand old restaurants in Upland seem to have passed: The Arbor, the Stuft Shirt, Lord Charlie's, York's, the Sage Hen, Noble Inn, etc., etc.

However, things aren't as dire as you think. I can think of a bunch of sitdown restaurants along Foothill, although they may not be to your liking.

From memory, heading east from the city limits at Monte Vista:

New China, Joey's BBQ, Buffalo Inn, Spaggi's (which is one of the valley's finest restaurants), Jarritos, Pho Century, Athens Gyro House, Kishi, Sizzler (still there, I think), Sushimaru, Brandon's Diner, El Perico Ranchero and Thai Satay BBQ. Plus another three or four sushi bars whose names slip my mind.

I'm sure I'm leaving out a few more places where you order at your table rather than at a counter.

Still, Fastfood Boulevard does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

CLOSED

This week's restaurant: Wapango, 7881 Monet Ave., Rancho Cucamonga.

Wapango, an upscale, pan-Latin restaurant in Victoria Gardens, had a low-key opening July 7 before a grand opening this month as they work out the kinks.

A friend and I had dinner there Monday. Wapango is a Texas-based chain and this is its second California location, next door to Gyu-Kaku and near Fleming's. The ceiling is industrial-looking, the floor is bare concrete and the hanging fixtures, booths and walls are colorful and stylish. Very modern interior.

We were seated in a crescent-shaped booth with a screen behind it, orange plastic and brown wood in vertical slats. Kinda cool. Service was good because our waiter confided we were his only table.

The menu features various Mexican, Cuban and South American dishes in new combinations. I'd compare it to Border Grill in Santa Monica; it's not to that level but the comparison may be helpful.

My friend had spinach and black bean enchiladas with rice and slaw ($14) and I had the Wapango tropical salad ($16). There's a full bar as well. She had a Cazadores margarita ($11), which was too sweet; the waiter volunteered to exchange it for a Patron ($12), which was much better. Me, I had an iced tea.

My salad arrived on a plate roughly 12 by 12 inches and looked lovely: Romaine lettuce (not very much, frankly) topped with orange and mango slices, raspberries, strawberries and large grilled shrimp. I really liked it -- it was very fresh and flavorful -- and our waiter said he thinks it will become a favorite.

The enchiladas came on a large oblong platter and my friend thought they were all right, although the cream sauce was on the heavy side. (It was the only vegetarian dish on the menu, which seems awfully limited for 2008.)

Personally I thought the entrees were too large; I could eat only half my salad, taking the rest home. But that's how it is at a lot of restaurants anymore, and my friend thought my objection was silly. So take that for whatever it's worth.

No room for dessert, especially with the free rolls, served with tapenade and pico de gallo. I recommend Wapango, which I'd judge one of the VG's half-dozen best restaurants.

Now and then a few of you have urged me to try a pastrami burger -- most recently Charles Bentley, in his comment on my post about eating at a Krystal's in New Orleans. I admitted that while I still planned to sample one sometime, I found the whole concept of a pile of pastrami atop a burger to be intimidating.

But that comment put the pastrami burger back on my mind. One lunch hour last week, feeling like eating a burger and having business in Pomona, I decided to revisit Bravo Burgers and go for it.

Bravo brags about its pastrami, and I knew its burgers were pretty good. Seemed like a good place to try the two in tandem.

(I've heard Bravo Burgers' chili cheese fries are top-notch, btw, but a sense of decorum kept me from getting those and a burger topped with pastrami. I got the regular fries and a Coke.)

Well, I hate to break it to Charles like this, but I didn't care for the pastrami burger.
Not that Bravo's wasn't an exemplary version of the sandwich. It no doubt was.

Me, I like my burgers fairly simple. Usually I don't even get cheese. Pastrami was akin to another condiment, one with a salty tang, getting in the way of the beef. For me, the pastrami diluted the pleasure, rather than increasing it. Your mileage may vary.

There was another issue that gnawed at me as I gnawed at my sandwich. Sure, I eat a fair amount of unhealthy things -- as well as a fair amount of healthy things, I hasten to add -- and perhaps some of those items are as unhealthy as a pastrami burger, or worse.

But they don't seem as bad. Each bite of the pastrami burger filled me with guilt. Also, fat and salt. Mentally blocked, I couldn't really surrender to the sandwich.

Was that a hiccup, or my heart seizing?

So it was an anxious lunch. Just as well I didn't develop a taste for a pastrami burger, I suppose. I'll continue to enjoy my pastrami and burgers separately.

Inland Empire Restaurant and Food Reviews is the name of a blog I discovered last week, and while the name is awfully literal, so is The David Allen Blog, right? So let's not hold that against it.

The posts are a kind of diary of the unnamed writer's lunch outings, heavy on photos, light on text. The photos of the food are fun.

This blog really does cover the Inland Empire -- restaurants from Riverside, Corona, Upland, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and good ol' Pomona have received writeups. Whoever the writer is, he/she gets around.

The 600 Starbucks that are closing aren't having much of an impact in the Inland Valley. Only one store, on 4467 E. Mission Blvd. (at Ramona) in Montclair, is shutting down. Thanks to Meg at M-M-M-My Pomona for steering us to the list. Only eight locations in all of California are closing.

Tuesday evening I took Vineyard to Holt on my way to the Ontario council meeting. A brand-new Starbucks is nearing completion on that corner -- the sign is up. That was a surprise to me. But I did know about a Starbucks under construction at Vineyard and Fourth, replacing a Sizzler. Both operations will be within blocks of the Daily Bulletin and can't be more than a mile apart.

Meanwhile, there's still a Starbucks at Vineyard and Foothill, plus a second one inside Albertsons on the same corner. Both are across the street from Coffee Klatch, which valiantly hangs in there, and good for them.

Reader Gail Sundberg writes:

Dear David,

Once again life as I know it is changed. Thanks for reading.

Hey, thank YOU for sharing, Gail. I suppose Claremont is a long way to go for an onion bagel if you live in Rancho Cucamonga. The only bagel alternative that comes to mind is Bruegger's Bagels in the Ontario Mills food court.

If you can break the onion bagel habit, Panera is certainly Target-adjacent. You might become a fan of Dolce Cafe in Montclair, which has pastries and is a block or so from that city's Target. Or enjoy another pastry shop, the homey Local Baker in downtown Upland.

Anyone have any better ideas for Gail?

Looking up Pupuseria Cuscatleca (shoot, I had to type the name all over again) for a blog post last week, I Googled it. One hit that came up was a surprise to me: a page from Pomona's city website where you can search for restaurants.

Good ol' Pomona, hiding its light under a bushel again.

Check the page out here. The list is actually fairly up to date -- I noticed Pho Vi and Philadelphia Broasted Chicken on the list -- although Osuna's ought to be deleted, as it became El Molcajete, which has a separate entry, a year or two ago. There are numerous places I've never even heard of, perhaps topics for future culinary exploration.

I'm pleased to report that, based on the list, Pomona has a restaurant for 24 letters of the alphabet, missing only U and X. Restaurateurs should feel free to take that as a challenge.

This week's restaurant: Pupuseria Cuscatleca (whew!), 990 E. Holt Ave., Pomona.

I noticed this restaurant's sign (I'm going to avoid typing the name a third time) some weeks back while taking Holt into Pomona for a council meeting, and finally returned for a meal at lunchtime the other day. It's in an older, one-story building directly across the street from the Pala Motel. (It appears the restaurant relocated from 1380 S. Garey.)

The interior is L-shaped and the entrance is at the bottom right of the L. In other words, when you walk in, your view of the back half of the restaurant is blocked by a wall. I took a seat near the door and have no idea what you see if you sit toward the back along the left wall. Just one of those quirks of a space that may not even have been designed for a restaurant.

As the name implies, the restaurant has pupusas. I've had those in Upland. They're Salvadoran and are like a corn pancake filled with a thin layer of meat, cheese and beans. The colorful menu downplays the pupusas and plays up seafood dishes, many of which looked pretty good from the photos and descriptions. But I decided to stick to the pupusas.

I ordered two, with pork -- my options were two or three -- and frankly one would have been plenty for me; they're good but filling. There was a pleasant cabbage and carrot salad on the side. I also had an agua fresca of pineapple. I couldn't see them make it, of course, but I could hear the blender whirring behind the wall. The frothy juice drink was served in a goblet and hit the spot on a hot day.

The server, who may be the owner or co-owner, was very nice to the visiting Anglo who probably stuck out like a sore thumb. There's an A in the window and the place (see how I avoided typing all those syllables again?) serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Not sure what the individual items cost but the bill came to $6.50, which wasn't bad for a satisfying lunch.

The other day I noted here that Claremont's Back Abbey has a $13 hamburger, one that may actually be worth the money.

At ONT I discovered the $10.40 breakfast burrito.

That would be at El Paseo, the Mexican restaurant in the concourse. I was there around 5 a.m. (yawn) before my flight to New Orleans, hoping to grab a bite. El Paseo at that point seemed to be the only restaurant open. The juice place next door, my usual stop before a flight, is out of business.

I saw the price for the burrito at El Paseo and decided I didn't need food that badly.

(I'm going to presume that rent at the airport is sky-high and that the prices reflect that. But that doesn't mean I'm going to pay it.)

It could be an amazing breakfast burrito, of course. And is there a reason I would pay $13 for a burger, but not $10.40 for a breakfast burrito? I guess it does sound strange.

My reasoning is, I don't really like breakfast burritos -- my hazy, pre-dawn recollection is that that was the only breakfast-ish item on the menu, hence the only reason I considered it -- and I didn't want that much food. Whereas I like a good hamburger and for the ambience at The Back Abbey, I was willing to pay. Seeking a quick meal at the airport, I wasn't.

Thankfully, ONT's Carl's Jr. opened before my flight and I had a breakfast sandwich and OJ for under $5. Their breakfast burritos were all around $3. You could probably get three for $10.40.

Anyone want to share tips or memories of meals at ONT? Hungry passengers will thank you.

This week's restaurant: Los Michoacanos Baja Grill, 639 E. Holt Blvd. (at Miramonte), Ontario.

I've stopped at Los Michoacanos a couple of times before Ontario council meetings for a quick bite. It's a broad storefront on East Holt. Walk inside the large space and there's an open kitchen on the left, a money-transfer counter on the right and, through a wide walkway behind them, a carniceria in the back half.

The first time I had very acceptable carne asada tacos. This week I ordered two chicken tacos and a horchata ($4.84). The counterman, who had raced up from the carniceria, seemed delighted by my order: "Have you tried our chicken before? It's marinated in orange juice, cilantro and black pepper. You'll love it."

And I did. Chicken is often bland, but this chicken was full of flavor and did indeed taste of orange juice. They could be the best chicken tacos I've ever eaten.

Perhaps because I was the only customer, the counterman picked up the remote and changed the channel of the TV on the wall from a telenovela to "Family Feud." First time I'd seen John O'Hurley, best known as J. Peterman on "Seinfeld," as host, and he was no Richard Dawson in the charisma department, although he, or at least his suit, had startlingly wide shoulders.

Still, for the question "things fans wear to a football game," when a player guessed "face paint," Hurley brightened. "Face painter -- just like the 'Seinfeld' episode," he declared. And it was a correct answer.

Before Monday's Pomona council meeting, I had a bite at Tijuana's Tacos on West Holt at Wisconsin. Good tacos. The beverage part of my repast was a first: a Mexican Coca-Cola.

I'd always heard a Mexican Coke is more potent. It comes in glass bottles and is often found at your more authentic taquerias. Seeing the Coke in the lineup of bottled sodas on the counter, I took the plunge. Even though a 16.9-oz. bottle cost $1.99.

Well, it wasn't a life-changing experience or anything, but the Mexican Coke did go down smooth. A little Internet research shows it's a popular drink up here among soda fanciers of all ethnicities, who are excited it's now sold at Costco. They say the taste is similar to the Cokes some of us grew up drinking because it's sweetened with cane sugar, not the current sweetener, the nutritionally and environmentally dreaded high fructose corn syrup.

Anyone else want to weigh in on Mexican Coke vs. American Coke?

For our annual Living Here magazine, I was asked to write a piece about restaurants and a shorter piece recommending five non-chain eateries.

Alas, the magazine (due out any day now as a DB insert) proved smaller than expected because of lagging ad sales and both my pieces were bumped. Oh, the humanity. So the main piece became today's print column and the sidebar is published below. Waste not, want not.

Note that I spread the five choices around geographically. So while these are not (as Nick Hornby would say) my all-time Top 5 restaurants, they're five that I've patronized multiple times over the years and enjoyed, for one reason or another.

Donahoo's Golden Chicken
1074 N. Garey Ave., Pomona (also 1117 N. Grove Ave., Ontario)
The Donahoo's box lunch is to fried chicken fanciers what the bento box is to Japanese food fans, an all-in-one conglomeration of tastes. The box consists of either two pieces of chicken or six chicken strips, perhaps the Inland Valley's best fried chicken, plus a pile of bland thick-cut fries (crinkle-cut at the Ontario location), a fist-sized roll and a small container of cole slaw. A plastic fork is tucked into a side flap. It's to-go only. If you're at the Pomona location, take your box a few blocks east to Lincoln Park and have yourself a picnic.

Fredy's Tacos
1821 E. Fourth St., Ontario
Located in the Ralphs center at Vineyard and Fourth next to a panaderia, Fredy's serves up small, Mexican-style tacos with plenty of onions and cilantro on corn tortillas. A humble place with mighty food, Fredy's draws laborers, journalists and Ontario police. Dine in and listen to ranchera music from the jukebox or watch a telenovela on the TV.

Angelina's Cafe
9135 Archibald Ave., Rancho Cucamonga
Hidden in a business park, Angelina's proves to be a cozy place with high tables, mustard-colored walls and a welcoming atmosphere. The food, mostly sandwiches and salads, is modest and reliable. There's a daily special to spice things up a bit. I like the old-fashioned spaghetti and meatballs, served in a portion large enough to take home half. The burgers are pretty good, you can get a salmon caesar salad for $8 and they make their own potato chips.

Flo's Cafe
7000 Merrill Ave., Chino, and 5650 Riverside Drive, Chino
Flo's is a down-home place, so popular there are two locations. They have the same menu, meaning that your choice of Flo's can be based on where you are at the moment, either physically or psychologically. Downtown Flo's is slightly downscale Coco's; airport Flo's is old-school coffee shop with airplanes, and sometimes flies, outside. I prefer airport Flo's but I visit the other in a pinch. Whatever you order, even if it's biscuits and gravy at breakfast, only the uninitiated make the mistake of not saving room for the homemade pie, cobbler or pudding.

San Biagio's N.Y. Style Pizza
1263 W. Seventh St., Upland
They have pastas here, baked and served in an aluminum tin, and sandwiches too, but the main event is the pizza. It's made in the New York style, a thin crust topped with tomato sauce and a sprinkling of mozzarella, plus whatever toppings you like (a purist would say none). You can order by the slice or get a whole pie. Slices are thin enough you can fold one in half and pretend you're in Brooklyn, even though you're really in a shopping center in Upland. Owner Biagio Pavia doesn't speak a lot of English but his enthusiasm is contagious. He speaks the universal language: a thumb's up or a high-five, accompanied by a big smile.

Walking downtown La Verne before Monday night's council meeting, I was startled to see that Dippin' Dots is opening an ice cream, or whatever it is, parlor at 2310 D. St. just above Third. The sign on the door says the opening is 10 a.m. today.

The name Dippin' Dots is familiar to L.A. County Fairgoers: The so-called "ice cream of the future" chain has had a stand outside one of the exhibit halls for years. The product itself is served as a pile of round frozen pieces the size of BBs, hence the "dots."

Dippin' Dots is also sold at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes games and at movie theaters in Chino and Chino Hills, according to its website's store locator.

In its page on Dippin' Dots, Wikipedia notes that the ice cream of the future hasn't quite become the ice cream of the present. I'm pleased to learn the company was founded by a fellow Illinoisan, though.

Had lunch Wednesday at Shalimar Garden, a combination Pakistani/Chinese restaurant at Holt and Main in Pomona. (The building, which began as a Bob's Big Boy, has gone through many permutations.) Referring to the twin cuisines, reader Bob Terry advised me: "Be sure to let us loyal readers know how the tandoori eggrolls are, or the orange peel lamb."

Of course the cuisines aren't really mixed. I had a beef dish whose name I don't recall (it was No. 14) and it was pretty good. There was only one other customer there, not a good sign. My waiter, who's Chinese, said when a customer orders off the Chinese menu, he goes into the kitchen to make it himself.

Other combination restaurants I'm aware of: Giuseppe's, an Italian/Middle Eastern place in San Antonio Heights; Golden Wok, which has burgers, donuts, Chinese food and Louisiana fried chicken, in Pomona; and Walter's in Claremont, with Afghan, American and Italian food.

Bon appetit!

Had lunch Thursday at the Corner Butcher Shop, at Fruit and Foothill in La Verne, a new, yet old-fashioned, butcher shop that also serves sandwiches. My pulled pork on a French roll, plus cole slaw and a Faygo soda ($8.40), were good stuff. (In-joke for Claremont Courier readers: Martin Lomeli wasn't eating there.)

From there, after a couple of errands, I dropped into 21 Choices Frozen Yogurt at Foothill and Mountain in Claremont. Only my second time in the place, but whenever I pass by, there's either a line out the door or people are walking toward it from the parking lot as if hypnotized. (The 21 Choices in the Village Expansion, which has been under construction for probably a year, albeit with little to show for it, now looks like it could actually open. Someday.)

I ordered one of the daily specials, vanilla bean ("98 percent fat free"), and had the counter girl add strawberries. She plopped out the yogurt onto a cutting board, added fresh strawberries and began chopping the whole thing up with a cleaver.

A customer watched all this, asking the counter girl what flavor of yogurt it was, saying it looked good and asking me if I'd had it before (no). The counter girl told her that chocolate with strawberries was very popular.

The customer then said to me excitedly, "You know what would be really good? Strawberries with marshmallow." I scrunched up my face, indicating that I disagreed violently, and also that in my opinion she may have lost her marbles, and paid my tab ($3.95).

On my way out, I heard the customer order vanilla bean yogurt.

CLOSED

This week's restaurant: Casa Blancas Mexican Food, 300 S. Indian Hill Blvd., Claremont.

You may know Casablanca, the Mediterranean restaurant in the Claremont Packing House. But do you know Casa Blancas, the Mexican restaurant three blocks south at Arrow Highway?

I stopped in there two weeks ago for dinner before seeing a movie at the Laemmle. That was "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," the Romanian abortion flick that, while worth seeing, was such a downer it may qualify as the feel-bad movie of the year.

Casa Blancas was previously a Green Burrito, with a couple of iterations in between. Thus, my expectations were low. The interior, however, had a lot of colorful tile, and the menu seemed promising.

At the counter, I ordered two grilled shrimp tacos and a Jarritos soda ($7.56 with tax). The salsa bar had been converted into a trough of ice filled with bottled Mexican sodas, not only Jarritos but Mexican Cokes. Nice, although too bad it's not a salsa bar. The tacos were the smallish, real kind, served on corn tortillas and loaded with cabbage. They were quite tasty. The soda proved a good pairing.

Casa Blancas was a pleasant surprise, likely the most authentic Mexican restaurant in Claremont (not that there's a lot of competition, granted). It's a good place for a quick, cheap bite in an often-pricey town.

And if you're curious, I did try two new-to-me restaurants this week: La Verne Pizza Co., where I had an adequate if unexciting pepperoni slice and salad, and Rok the Wok in Upland, where I had a below-average chicken teriyaki bowl. I'd rather highlight a worthwhile place, even if it's a couple of weeks old.

An anonymous (why? why?) reader sent the following e-mail to yours truly and three colleagues on a food topic perhaps best showcased here:

"I would like to make a suggestion for a food article. I presented this idea to a staff writer about 4-5 years ago and they just filed it away. [Of all the nerve. -- DA]

"I am an avid fan of Bento Boxes. Definition of what these are follows:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento

"My main interest, however, is where these are available in the Inland Empire -- more so around the surrounding Ontario airport areas. I know of a few that I patronize regularly. It's a lot of good healthy food for an average price of $6. Most Japanese establishments have this available. Some in the fine dining category may not.

"The ones that I am aware of in my general area (around Ontario Mills where my office is at) are:

"Robin Dono Sushi, 4th & Milliken, Ontario, CA (fine dining)

"Also having lived in Orange County, I patronized places that offered these bento boxes daily. There are more of these venues in O.C. so it's a common find.

"I hope this can be considered as an article. If you know of the staff writer that can perhaps do this for the Daily Bulletin, please forward this email. I'm sure they would enjoy these bento box lunches as I do.

"Thank you."

I'll leave it to the features staff whether to write an article about bento boxes, but at least your plea has been heard here at the blog. Anyone want to add to the list of bento box purveyors?

Oh, and let me add that Kazama Sushi is now in Claremont's Village Expansion, where it opened last week. Another sushi restaurant has taken its place at Grove and Foothill.

This week's restaurants: Sho Sushi and Route 66 Subs, both at 373 E. Foothill Blvd., Upland.

Both restaurants in a yellow strip center at Third Avenue (I think -- the street signs are missing) notable for a Green Burrito, Digital Color World and Check 'n Go.

At lunch Tuesday I entered Sho Sushi and took a seat at the sushi bar. I had most of my usual sushi items: salmon skin cut rolls, spicy tuna cut rolls, salmon sushi and albacore sushi. I'm inexpert at these things but would judge the sushi to be average -- not excellent but not bad.

Sho seems to be known for "all you can eat." I simply ordered my items off the menu and when the bill came, it was "all you can eat," $19.95. Mentally adding up what I'd ordered, it came to slightly more than that, about $23, so I guess it worked to my advantage, barely.

Sho Sushi, by the way, used to be owned by the people who now own King's Teriyaki on East Holt in Pomona, where I wrote about getting napkins imprinted with the Sho Sushi logo.

Thursday, figuring I'd polish off the strip center, I had lunch at Route 66 Subs. (I've been to a Green Burrito before and that's good enough for my little restaurant survey.)

The interior has a black-and-white motif with Route 66 and car-related decor. I got the Maserati, which is an Italian Trio sub (ham, mortadella and capicolla, I believe), 8-inch size, plus macaroni salad and a Coke, for $9.42. The sub was fine and filling, the salad pleasingly peppery.

They gave me a sub card -- a free sub on your eighth visit -- and you can sign up for e-mail coupons that will also net you a free meal on your birthday.

I'm not a sub guy, and when I am I go to Grinder Haven, but this was a nice little place. On my way out, after almost an hour of eating and reading, the guy behind the counter, who had taken my name with my order, called out, "'Bye, David." So he gets points for trying, and maybe I will go back sometime.

Where are the 24-hour restaurants of the Inland Valley? Most seem to be in Pomona.

Leaving aside Coco's, Denny's and their corporate cousins, here are the places I know about in Pomona:

* La Fuente, 987 S. Garey Ave. at 10th Street.

* Grandma's Donuts, East Mission Boulevard just east of Garey (can't find them online or in phone book).

* The Jelly Donut, 2097 N. Towne Ave. (A sign says it's "Open 24/24." Someone tell Jack Bauer!)

* Golden Wok, 1725 N. Garey Ave.

* Taqueria de Anda, 1690 S. Garey at Franklin.

So Pomona has a lot of night owls. What about the rest of the valley?

* Rancho Cucamonga has Corky's Kitchen and Bakery, 6403 N. Haven Ave. just above the 210. Apparently they do good business in the middle of the night. The fresh-baked pie is awesome.

* Ontario has Fork in the Road, 4265 E. Guasti Road, at the Travel Centers of America West truck stop. The food is surprisingly good. Fork was featured in a segment of the Food Network's "Road Food" in 2006.

Surely there are more 24-hour joints, especially in Ontario. Anyone want to fill in the blanks, or tell stories about 24-hour dining?

This week's restaurants: El Perico Ranchero, 1401 E. Foothill Blvd. (at Grove), Upland, and El Cerrito, 7201 Archibald Ave. (at Base Line), Rancho Cucamonga.

Yes, we're riding the El this week and we're nowhere near Chicago. El Perico Ranchero was pointed out to me by one of you readers recently when I wrote about Mexican restaurants in Upland. I'd overlooked it. So I rectified that omission by dining there for lunch on Tuesday.

It's mid-range Mexican with table service and some seafood on the menu. I had the chile verde ($9.95). The plate itself was hot, which always makes me suspicious that the plate is prepared in advance and stuck in the oven. The chile verde, though, was very good. And there was a lot of it. I don't know who can eat all that; I could barely finish half. I took the rest home and got a snack out of half of it Wednesday night. I had the other quarter Friday night. That's a lunch that keeps on giving.

On Thursday I hit El Cerrito after a visit to 4-Color Fantasies, the comic shop across the street. Entering El Cerrito was disconcerting because it looks like half a restaurant. All there was to see was a long, narrow space with booths along each wall. No employees or even kitchen in sight. I sat myself and saw the kitchen is tucked away through a doorway on the left. The lone employee I saw during the meal was pretty busy.

I had three soft tacos with chicken, beef and steak ($2.25 each). They were big too and loaded with cheese. I should have asked if they were Mexican style (small) or American style (big). Oh well. They were fine for what they were. The menu was fairly extensive, just like El Perico's, but I wasn't in an ambitious mood, so this is a feebler than usual account, sorry.

Maybe next week, instead of eating at another El place, I can do the opposite: a Le place.

Fat Tuesday, the end of Mardi Gras, is today, and reader/foodie Charles Bentley has a question:

"I was wondering if you have any suggestions for local eateries to enjoy some Mardi Gras cuisine?

"But if you know someplace local – especially a good spot that makes good crawfish etouffee – I would dearly love to know about it. Plus points if they have nice beignets like at the Café du Monde!"

Crescent City Cafe was the restaurant by Montclair Plaza that had to relocate to make way for a Chili's but ultimately couldn't survive in its Ontario location as New Orleans Express.

With them gone, the best I could come up with was Kelly's Cajun Grill in the Ontario Mills food court. The Inland Valley surely must have a soul food restaurant or two, but I'm unaware of them.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Monday I ate at two new-to-me restaurants, Richie's Diner for lunch, Harry's Pacific Grill for dinner, both at Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga.

I'm familiar with the Richie's in Victorville, an occasional lunch stop when I lived and worked there in the mid-1990s. That one, if memory serves, had a virtually all-white interior and was fairly utilitarian. The food was OK but nothing exciting. The VG one is more a modern take on a diner, outfitted in browns and gray, with comfortable booths and classier touches. It's a little disconcerting to see a wall niche with bottles of wine not far from a lineup of classic bottled sodas and emblems of old-school gas station pumps, but it mostly works.

I ordered the California tuna melt ($8.95) on sourdough with slaw as my side and a Pepsi with vanilla flavoring ($2.19), which came in a metal cup. A tuna melt is my baseline sandwich. This one really was a melt -- sometimes the cheese isn't melted at all -- and was one of the better examples I've had. It came with avocado, probably a treat for most people, but to be honest, I've never really liked avocado. The slaw was good too.

All in all, Richie's beat expectations.

Dinner that night was at Harry's. I've been to Honolulu Harry's, owned by the same chain, but this is virtually nothing like that. It's a more upscale experience, without the tropical gimmickry (which is fun, by the way).

I had the Paniolo skirt steak ($17), which was said to have been marinated 24 hours, with fries; my friend had the Asian Pacific Pescado ($16), which came with baby broccoli, kalamata olives, fresh tomatoes and white wine reduction.

What was Asian or Mexican about the fish's preparation wasn't clear, but it was flavorful and served on a bed of scalloped potatoes. My steak was tender and juicy. Even my fries were good. Harry's atmosphere hit that sweet spot where you feel you're in a nice place but it's not so stiff that you're intimidated.

So, two meals, two winners. If only all days were like this.

CLOSED

This week's restaurant: Beard Papa, Food Hall, Victoria Gardens, Rancho Cucamonga.

Founded in Japan in 1999, Beard Papa outlets have been springing up in L.A. To see one in Victoria Gardens lets us know the 909 is hipper than it's given credit for. Their cream puffs are made on the spot and cost $1.95 ($2.25 with tax). The shell is lightly crunchy and the custard filling is creamy good.

Although I did write about Chinese restaurants and noted therein my lunch at Foothill Bistro, I didn't have room last week on this blog for an official Restaurant of the Week. And I ate at four new-to-me places too.

Belatedly, here's where else I ate:

* Crepes de Paris, 7876 Monet Ave., Victoria Gardens: This was a pleasant surprise. They sell crepes both savory (entree-style) and sweet (dessert), plus salads, hot and cold sandwiches, French onion soup and coffees. I ordered a chicken-spinach crepe ($9.95) and, while it appears I ended up with a chicken-mushroom crepe, it was large and tasty and, the place being crazy-busy and the staff shorthanded, I had no complaints. There are cheerful French cartoon drawings on the wall. A better-than-average dining option, especially if you're tired of the same old same-old.

* Beard Papa, Food Hall, Victoria Gardens: Founded in Japan in 1999, Beard Papa outlets have been springing up in L.A. To see one in Victoria Gardens lets us know the 909 is hipper than it's given credit for. Their cream puffs are made on the spot and cost $1.95 ($2.25 with tax). The shell is lightly crunchy and the custard filling is creamy good.

* Central Burgers, 10340 Central Ave., Montclair: I went here before a Montclair council meeting. This location was Andy's Burgers No. 2 until fairly recently. This is one of those burger places (like Jim's in Upland and Terry's in Rancho Cucamonga) that has a surprisingly broad menu. For breakfast, eight omelets, eggs, bacon, hotcakes; 13 types of burgers, plus a patty melt and chili size; burritos, tacos, quesadillas, taquitos and tostadas; tuna, fish, steak, chicken and gyro sandwiches; five salads; steak dinners ($6.55!); and even a cup of chili ($3.25) and a cup of rice ($1.75). I had a burger combo ($4.37 with tax) and enjoyed it while watching "King of Queens" on the dining room TV.

So that rounds out last week's dining. I'll get to this week's dining soon -- hopefully before next week.

Not long ago I had dinner with friends at China Gate, the Chinese restaurant in Upland by Trader Joe's. China Gate is probably the best Chinese eatery in the Inland Valley, and one of the most popular.

We had two of the specialties, the sizzling beef plate and the seafood clay pot, plus the kung pao chicken. The food was good, as it reliably is at China Gate (although the seafood clay pot, we couldn't help but notice, did not come in a clay pot). The service was friendly and attentive. When the third member of our party finally arrived, 15 minutes late, the waiter, hands on hips, asked with perfect comic timing: "What took you so long?"

So there's a lot to be said in China Gate's favor.

But in looking over the 100-plus-item menu, it must be said that there's a 1980s feel to it, and maybe even older. Have you noticed they still serve not only egg foo yung, but chop suey? How very Yangtze of them. And China Gate may be the valley's most authentic Chinese restaurant.

What's strange is that you can get fairly authentic Thai food, or Japanese food, or Korean food, or Vietnamese food at any number of restaurants out here. Asians and non-Asians alike pack into, say, Sanamluang in Pomona or Pho Ha in Rancho Cucamonga. Nobody's catering to American tastes there by serving pho with, I dunno, pepperoni, or pad Thai with bacon and avocado.

And yet whenever somebody opens a Chinese restaurant here, they feel obliged to serve cream cheese wontons and orange chicken. Why not go for the Chinese audience? The rest of us might follow.

This isn't to say our valley has no decent Chinese food, just nothing that isn't Americanized to a greater or lesser extent.

Among the best, besides the aforementioned China Gate: Noble House and Chu Chinese Cuisine, both in Rancho Cucamonga; Chopsticks House, with two locations in Ontario; and Chinese Pavilion and Phoenix Garden, both in La Verne.

As far as chains go, Panda Inn in Ontario and P.F. Chang's in Rancho Cucamonga offer superior meals, and Pei Wei, in Rancho Cucamonga, a P.F. Chang's spinoff, has good Asian-inflected food at modest prices.

On Tuesday, I had lunch at Foothill Bistro, which two months ago took the place of Emperor's Kitchen at Hellman and Foothill in Rancho Cucamonga. (The same center has good Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese restaurants, plus a boba shop. Also, a Chuck E. Cheese.)

"Hong Kong Style Chinese Food," the banner says. Foothill Bistro was pretty good. They have Singapore-style chow fun and a menu of 137 more items. It bears further investigation. There's even a B in the window.

Still, there's no congee or dim sum or other items (my experience is fairly limited, I'm afraid) that one would find in Alhambra or Chinatown. And the name is kind of bland. At this point, though, Foothill Bistro ought to be encouraged.

Let me end with a question for you foodies:

Can anyone recommend an authentic Chinese restaurant in Diamond Bar, or anywhere else east of San Gabriel?

This week's restaurant? Broadly, it's the Upland Center, on the southwest corner of Mountain and Foothill (the shopping center with Big Lots and Stater Bros.), which had three previously unsampled restaurants. This week I tried all three of them.

Monday: Jarritos Mexican Restaurant. The interior is large but seating is spaced apart, giving everyone plenty of elbow room. Cheerful and brightly lit, the walls are colorful. Except for one wall near the kitchen, which has a black and white mural of scenes from "Casablanca." Must've been left over from a previous tenant and nobody could bear to paint over it.

The food was above average. I had barbacoa ($7.79), which is tender barbecued beef, with sour cream, rice, beans and tortillas.

I was prepared to rule it the best Mexican food in Upland. To be sure, though, I tried the only (to my knowledge) other Mexican place I haven't eaten at, Rancho Los Magueyes at 16th and Mountain, on Wednesday. Not bad. So I'll declare it a tie.

Tuesday: Athens Gyro House. Or, as the sign and its ads put it, Athen's Gyro House. One hesitates to recommend a place as authentic Greek when it betrays uncertainty how to spell Athens. (I felt the same about the defunct Cajun restaurant in Montclair whose sign put an accent on the final e of Creole. Creo-lay?)

However, I had a very good gyro sandwich ($7.99), and the menu seems to have plenty of Greek specialties, so my recommendation is to ignore the apostrophe issue and dive in. The menu, oddly, also has spaghetti, lasagna and pizza, with gyro meat as one of the options.

If nothing else, you owe it to yourself to see the poster in the window. It features a slightly blurred photo of the owner smiling for the camera while slicing gyro off the spit. The copy reads: "Chef Michael Slicing Gyro Meat Thinly." It's a kitsch classic.

Thursday: Pho Century. Upland has a Vietnamese restaurant? Who knew? It was busy at lunch Thursday with Vietnamese, Chinese and us white folks alike. A friend had the seafood pho ($6.25), I had charbroiled pork ($5.95) and we shared shrimp and pork spring rolls ($2.99). The pho was judged to be good but not as good as Pho Ha in Rancho Cucamonga; I liked my entree quite a bit.

Pho Century's menu has 209 numbered dishes, plus 20 appetizers and 22 beverages. You could become a regular there and never get bored, that's for sure.

So, that polishes off that corner of the Inland Valley. Next!

Just an alert for anyone who knows the Saffron Cafe at Guasti: Its last day is Friday.

Saffron will be the main topic of my Friday column, but let me get the word out here a day early. If you want one last meal, beat the rush and go today. Saffron is the lunch-only spot in the Guasti Villa (the Guasti Mansion to you oldtimers). The food's pretty good and you can't beat the ambience of the 1922 building, the former home of Secondo Guasti, the head of the onetime winemaking village.

I had lunch there Wednesday, from the $20 prix fixe menu. My meal -- field greens with pears and prosciutto, bread, soup and an entree of shrimp, mussels and scallops in a coconut curry -- was filling, and if it didn't knock my socks off (the soup was a little weak), I was satisfied.

Saffron plans restaurants throughout the region, with one already open in Riverside and one likely for Upland. But it will be gone from Guasti. In fact, with Guasti under demolition and reconstruction, you won't have a chance to return to the Villa until 2009 or 2010.

Call (909) 605-7677 for directions, reservations or questions.

Today's column is my second annual Inland Valley dining guide, which offers a roundup of some of the more noteworthy of the 92 restaurants at which I ate in 2007.

For anyone who missed it, or who wants a refresher, here's my earlier dining guide, published Jan. 5, 2007, covering some of the 84 restaurants at which I ate in 2006. Amazingly, I think all the ones mentioned below are still in business. Now here's that column:

True, I’d developed a reputation as a fella who likes to eat out, but by the end of 2005 I realized my lunch hours were mostly spent at the same half-dozen joints.

Thus, to shake myself out of a rut, I made a New Year’s resolution for 2006: try at least one new-to-me restaurant per week.

Admittedly, it was a modest goal. But unlike your resolutions to stop smoking or start working out, I stuck with my vow all year. Nyaah!

By the end of December, I had eaten at 84 previously untried restaurants. A few were chains. Most were mom and pop places. Some looked like dumps but had good food. Some actually were dumps.

I hasten to point out that I’m not a professional reviewer, just a guy on his lunch break, so my standards aren’t exactly rigorous. Also, just so you know, I ate anonymously and paid my own way.

Any opinions below are merely observations, but they’re all mine.

And now, some results from my field research:

* Thai T (9000 Foothill Blvd., Rancho Cucamonga) and Bangkok Blue (2300 Foothill, La Verne) are in strip malls, but both Thai restaurants have a genteel ambience and good food. My favorite Thai place, by the way, is Mix Bowl Cafe in Pomona, where I’m slowly eating my way through the 100-plus items on the menu.

* The interior is stark and bare, but the carne asada tacos at Taqueria el Triunfo (1565 W. Holt Ave., Pomona) make a deep impression.

* The food was fine, but the old-school interior of the venerable New China (2006 W. Foothill, Upland) with its ornate bar, burgundy booths and carved ceiling is what makes this a local treasure.

* A colleague recommended the chili at Buckboard BBQ (1386 E. Foothill, Unit M, Upland). He was right.

* Year’s best restaurant name: Posh Burgers and Beyond. It’s the latest tenant in a former Dairy Queen (727 E. Holt Blvd., Ontario). The teriyaki bowl features charbroiled chicken and is surprisingly tasty. Not to mention posh.

* Tropical Mexico (1371 S. East End Ave., Pomona) opened in 1967 and may be Pomona’s oldest Mexican restaurant. It’s a sprawling place with a busy lunch trade, and I can see why.

* Reputation holds that Owen’s American Bistro (5210 D St., Chino) is the nicest restaurant in Chino. It’s downtown in a converted bank. Bank on a fine meal there.

* Despite the name, Guido’s Pizza (9755 Arrow Highway, Rancho Cucamonga) is really a deli. They make a fine sandwich.

* I can recommend the pizza at both zPizza (1943 N. Campus Ave., Upland) and Joe Chicago’s (711 W. Foothill, Upland). Upland, in fact, must be a good pizza town, as it’s also home to the superior San Biagio N.Y. Pizza.

* Tucked away in a business park, Angelina’s Cafe (9135 Archibald Ave., Rancho Cucamonga) is worth hunting down. The food is good, the atmosphere is cozy and the servers, Karen and Katie, are a crackup. If you’re lucky, you’ll get homemade potato chips while you wait. I know I was trying to get out of a rut, but after finding Angelina’s, I ate here every week.

* Best sushi I had around here all year was at Kuma Sushi (1905 N. Campus, Upland).

* When I paused at the menu board at Esther Tacos (1466 E. Foothill, Unit Q, Upland), the woman behind the counter asked if I’d been there before, then scurried to the kitchen to bring out small samples of all their meats. I wouldn’t have gone wrong with any of them.

* I had better than average hamburgers at Archibald’s Burgers (2685 E. Riverside, Ontario), Jim’s Burgers (969 W. Foothill, Upland) and Samo’s (1701 S. Garey Ave., Pomona). Although I still miss A&W Root Beer in Ontario and continue to dote on Golden Ox, with three locations in Pomona to serve you better.

* While it’s hard to beat the food at El Merendero, an old standby, two other Mexican restaurants within walking distance of Pomona City Council meetings are also a cut above: Sabor Mexicano (180 E. Sixth St.) and Mexico Lindo (1060 S. Garey).

* It’s “Home of the Bean Special,” according to the sign at Taco King (1317 E. Foothill, Upland), but I went for the chicken tacos. Not only was the food tasty and cheap, but three customers recognized me.

Eating there was satisfying for my appetite and my ego.

CLOSED JULY 2010

This week's restaurant: So Fresh Salads and More, 1 N. Indian Hill Blvd., Suite 103 (at 1st), Claremont.

So Fresh looks like a franchise, as does the Pita Pit next door, but both are homegrown Claremont operations. (Update: I'm told Pita Pit really is a franchise. So Fresh is local, though.)

Pita Pit seems like a popular lunch spot, especially with the college crowd. I had a gyro there a while back and have to say it didn't meet my expectations of a gyro. The sandwich maker -- it's like Subway or Quizno's, where someone asks if you want each individual condiment -- was ready to put all sorts of questionable items on my gyro. But that's not really their fault. It's not a Greek restaurant, it's a place that sells wraps, albeit ones in pita bread rather than tortillas.

So Fresh, to pardon my own interruption, has salads, wraps and panini sandwiches. It was moderately busy at lunchtime Monday. You order at the counter and in a bit they call your name to pick up your food. I got the Garden Salad (spring mix, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, carrots, green peppers and goat cheese) with balsamic dressing, plus an iced tea, for $7.77.

There were some problems. A customer who came in after me got his salad before I did. And when my salad came, it was in a to-go container, not the for-here bowl.

The bigger problem was the amount of dressing. My salad was coated. There was probably twice as much dressing as I would have liked. I ate most of the salad but the dressing was so overpowering that I couldn't finish. By mid-afternoon, I was not only $7.77 poorer, I was hungry again.

Maybe this experience was an anomaly, but if I go back, it will be for a panini, or I'll ask for dressing on the side. Anyone else try this place, or the Pita Pit? I'm happy to see locally owned businesses in the Expansion and certainly wish both restaurants the best. They weren't to my taste, though.

Recently I wrote about Langer's Deli in L.A., which makes what has been called the best pastrami sandwich in America. Charles Bentley asks:

"What about a 'best pastrami in the IE' competition? Personally, The Hat was always a big winner with me, although others love Farmer Boys, Grinder Haven, Burger Town (the one on Archibald in Ontario) and even Togos. And is it just strictly pastrami as in pastrami sandwiches, or is it also pastrami as found on pastrami burgers? One friend tells me it’s a completely different requirement, like the difference between bacon for breakfast and bacon for a bacon cheeseburger.

"It’s just something else to heat up your nights and your readers’ imaginations -- not to mention the heartburn, oy!"

I'm a fan of the Grinder Haven pastrami and I admire The Hat. Haven't tried the pastrami at the other places and have never tried a pastrami burger. Readers, what are your favorites?

Fatburger, 11226 4th St. (at Milliken), Rancho Cucamonga

This week's restaurant certainly isn't Lela's. It could have been Pueblita, a Mexican restaurant apparently in Montclair city limits (although it's in the Upland Business Center) at Arrow Route and Benson Avenue, where I had lunch early this week. I'd heard good things, but I would rate it only as average. If I worked in the neighborhood, I'd eat there, but since getting there meant driving past several better Mexican restaurants, I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to try it.

Instead, I'll pick a chain operation: Fatburger, in Rancho Cucamonga, across from Ontario Mills.

Fatburger doesn't make my favorite hamburger. That would probably be Molly's Charbroiler, a stand on Vine Street a block below Hollywood Boulevard that is a favored stop when I go to the ArcLight. I also like Pie 'N Burger in Pasadena, which not only makes a fantastic burger but sells you fresh-baked pie afterward.

In the Inland Valley, I'd go for Golden Ox, with three Pomona locations to serve you better. And innumerable small operations make hamburgers far tastier than McDonald's and its ilk.

But Fatburger, just east down Fourth Street from our office, is a convenient spot, and there's an attention to quality and freshness that puts it up there with In N Out. Fatburger's signature item is fat, juicy and cooked to order, and loaded with shredded lettuce.

The skinny fries are pleasantly crispy, the onion rings lightly battered. They even have Cherry Coke in the dispenser. The shakes are a little disappointing and the "fat" fries are mushy for my taste, although friends like them. Fatburger also sells quite good chicken sandwiches and turkey burgers. You can even get a bacon and fried egg sandwich, which I tried once and liked.

The seating is comfortable, moreso than In N Out's, with actual tables and chairs, plus booths. There's a nice vibe to the place. One day my food was brought to my table by an employee wearing silk pants, like he was stopping off before hitting the clubs. The jukebox plays great R&B, rock and soul classics. Friday I heard Sly and the Family Stone, the Coasters, the Spinners and Janis Joplin.

This may reflect the clientele. This Fatburger, at least, is popular with the black community. Sometimes half the diners, as well as a majority of the employees, are black. The place opened in October 2005 and feels like it's made a niche for itself.

If nothing else, it outlasted its next-door neighbor, Mi Tortilla, which closed a few weeks ago.

CLOSED 2008

Pondok Salero, 2105 Foothill Blvd. (at D), La Verne.

I don't usually list in this feature all the new places I visited in the past week, just my favorite. But as I've tried several new-to-me restaurants since last week's entry, let me mention them all.

First there was Lily's Tacos, on North Garey in Pomona, the little stand with the vinyl rain guard near M&I Surplus, where I had a superior al pastor burrito. Second came Bua Thai, a new Thai place in the Claremont Village Expansion, which had a line out the door but to my taste was only average. ("Thai food for people who don't like Thai food," one friend remarked.) Next came Sushi Shiro, in Upland, in the former Cafe Provencal space, where I had a decent sushi lunch and saw a rarity, a woman training as a sushi chef.

But I'll tell you in detail about the place I had lunch Thursday: Pondok Salero in La Verne, perhaps the valley's sole Indonesian restaurant.

Pondok is in a storefront on Foothill Boulevard, in the strip center with Shogun. It teeters on the brink between fast food and sit-down, being wider than it is deep and with a steam table at the counter, and yet with table service and an inviting gold-painted walls and tasteful art. (There doesn't seem to be a buffet; the server dished up my food from the steam table.)

I'm a novice at this, so I got Paket Rames Ayam ($7.25), which is a piece of chicken simmered in coconut milk. It came with rice, a spicy egg (a hardboiled egg with red chili), cabbage with green beans and a small mound of chopped green chili. The menu also lists serundeng, but as I seem to have accounted for everything on my plate, I'm not sure what this is.

The side dishes were too spicy for me, but then, I'm not good with spicy food. The chicken was tasty, and the rice and cucumber cooled my tongue from the rest. I wouldn't be opposed to trying Pandok again. It may be catching on; although only one other table was filled at 1 p.m., a sign near the cash register proudly reads: "Now we open 7 days/week."

After lunch I walked three storefronts up to O-Lime, one of the innumerable Pinkberry knockoffs, where I got a pomegranate frozen yogurt with strawberries and pineapple ($3.45). Very tasty.

Out of all these places, the one I'm likeliest to revisit is Lily's Tacos. But I love that stolid La Verne has an Indonesian restaurant and a Korean frozen-yogurt place about 20 paces from each other.

Toward the end of my Flo's Cafe column on the women in the back who do all the baking, the pair said their bread pudding was something special. In print I expressed the desire to go back and try it sometime.

Well, three friends corraled me into hitting Flo's with them for a Friday lunch, to be followed by bread pudding. (It's made on alternate Thursdays; banana pudding is made the other weeks.) So we made the trek to Flo's, the one at the Chino Airport, on Merrill Avenue just east of Euclid Avenue.

I'll say upfront that I can take bread pudding or leave it. The Flo's version was tasty, though, and we agreed the bread was chewy, not soppy, and not too sweet. We asked the waitress how it's made, and she said the bread is actually the bakers' housemade cinnamon rolls. How about that?

Incidentally, the manager and I exchanged a wave from across the room midway through lunch. My guess is that she told our waitress that the writer of the Flo's column was at the table. I say this because as my retired friend Ken, who had bantered with her throughout the meal, paid the tab at the register, she told him, "That was a great article you did on us, and I liked your column a couple of days ago too." He had to tell her the writer was the guy standing over there.

I suppose she naturally assumed the writer must be the witty guy, not the quiet guy. Not the first time that's happened to your shy scribe. Oh well, as long as she likes my column...