Recently in Restaurants: Ontario Category

Lucky Elephant, 1515 N. Mountain Ave. (at 6th), Ontario; also 531 W. Arrow Highway (at Eucla), San Dimas

Having dined at the very good and exquisitely decorated Lucky Elephant in San Dimas, I was excited to see a banner along 6th Street at Mountain Avenue in Ontario, by the Edwards 14 cinemas, that a Lucky Elephant would be coming soon. It opened in late January and affords much the same experience as in San Dimas.

The interior is lined with teak paneling, with gables over the booths. A glass display case is filled with elephant figurines. Thailand tourism videos play on flat screen TVs. (The narration is turned low but can catch you unawares if you're seated without a view of the TVs, as I was on my first visit.)

At lunchtime, the hostess is clad in a long lavender traditional dress. All the plates, platters, bowls, cups and saucers match and were made in Thailand. In other words, it's something of an immersive experience.

The only comparable place locally of which I'm aware is Green Mango in Rancho Cucamonga. Like Green Mango, Lucky Elephant also has very good food. On my first visit, I had one of the lunch specials (all $7): ginger pork, sauteed with peppers, onions, carrots and mushrooms. Salad, soup and rice come with. Tasty and filling.

A few days later, I returned to try the crispy ground catfish salad ($9), a dish I've had in Thai Town. I have no idea how it's made, because in appearance and texture it's akin to deep-fried cotton candy. The Lucky Elephant version is credible but desperately needs another ingredient; one excellent version I've tried was served on a bed of sliced apples. I wouldn't order it again here, at least not solo; for one person, finishing it was monotonous.

But I'm looking forward to my next visit. The menu is lengthy and contains many dishes rare to the Inland Valley. And despite the white tablecloths and lovely surroundings, few entrees are above $9. You might leave feeling as lucky as the elephants.

Phillys Best, 4320 E. Mills Circle Road (at Milliken), Ontario; also 4047 Grand Ave. (at Pipeline), Chino; and 806 E. Arrow Hwy. (at 57), San Dimas

Phillys Best (note shameful lack of apostrophe) is a chain of cheesesteak shops with 20 locations in SoCal, including three in the Inland Valley (see above). Because the number is so limited, Phillys Best qualifies under my ground rules here of focusing on mom and pop or relatively scarce chain restaurants.

I've been to the Phillys Best on the periphery of Ontario Mills a few times over the years. They have a range of steak sandwiches, hoagies, burgers and chicken sandwiches.

I visited this week for a mushroom steak with cheese ($7.50). It's a hearty sandwich and like the others is served on a soft Amoroso brand roll from Philadelphia. I see in the fine print that the cheese is American and that you can substitute provolone or Wiz, as in Cheez Wiz, which cheesesteak-wise is technically more authentic, albeit disgusting.

They have above-average fries ($2) and, for people with East Coast tastes, Wise brand chips, Tastykakes and Frank's Soda. The decor is sparse but includes boards listing Philly natives and Philly trivia and a blowup aerial photo of the city.

I haven't been to Philadelphia and can't judge how the cheesesteaks here compare, but they taste pretty good to me, and the result seems a lot more Philly than, say, Sbarro is to N.Y. If you've been, what do you think?

Grinder Haven, 724 W. Holt Blvd. (at San Antonio), Ontario

Opened in 1958, Grinder Haven, which specializes in the sandwiches known variously as grinders, subs and heroes, is among the oldest restaurants in Ontario. You walk up and order at a window and dine at a picnic table under an overhang. A large neon sign with beckoning arrow stands by Holt, which was once akin to the Route 66 of Ontario.

I've written about Grinder Haven's history in my column; it began as D'Elia's Grinder Haven and was sold in 1973 to John Goble, who shortened the name and owned it until 2005. The Haven used to be famed for baking its own bread and for its attention to quality.

Two subsequent owners no doubt meant well but stopped baking bread and cut corners. I stopped eating there. But I gave it another shot recently with a Grinder newcomer after hearing the place had improved.

They have hot and cold sandwiches, $4.50 for a half and $7 for a whole. A half is plenty for a normal appetite. Hot sandwiches are pastrami, meatball, BBQ beef, sausage and BLT; cold sandwiches are ham, salami, turkey, tuna, capocolla and beef. They also have burgers and fries.

I had the pastrami and my friend had the meatball. The pastrami was okay, better than my last visit but not as good as I recall from better days, and my friend said the meatball sandwich was bland and tasteless. He didn't finish it. The restaurant continues to buy its rolls instead of baking them.

Grinder Haven is still a classic, and there's something unique about dining there on a warm day. For those who remember its quality-conscious era, though, Grinder Haven isn't "back." But it's been worse.

Corner Deli, 980 N. Ontario Mills Drive (at Rochester), Ontario

I hadn't heard of the Corner Deli until reader David Paniagua Jr. tipped me off. It's in the strip center with Tokyo Tokyo and Rubio's on the outskirts of Ontario Mills. Reviewers on Yelp gave the place high marks too. I had lunch there recently with a colleague.

Corner Deli opened in fall 2010 and was a bustling place on a weekday lunch. It has deli basics (pastrami, salami, ham, turkey) and many hot sandwiches, as well as soup and salads. It's Korean-owned and offers a few unusual items.

I had the Korean BBQ sandwich ($6.59), featuring sliced, marinated ribeye grilled with cabbage and onions with Asian slaw on a roll. Excellent. My friend had the Seoul Bird ($5.99), with turkey, Asian slaw, tomato, provolone cheese on a wheat roll. He liked it.

Corner Deli may be one of the better sandwich shops in the valley. From now on, I'm eating where David Paniagua Jr. eats.

Zeke's Eatin' Place, 1855 E. 4th St. (at Vineyard), Ontario

Zeke's has been a block or so from our newsroom during my entire Bulletin tenure, but it took me a while to get there, the name Zeke's Eatin' Place being kind of an eye-roller. I had a decent breakfast there a few years ago, which raised my opinion of the restaurant, and promptly forgot the whole thing.

For a recent breakfast meeting with three Ontario cops, they picked Zeke's, a longtime favorite of the department, at least its older members. I was happy to give the place a try in the company of some admirers.

It's breakfast and lunch only, closing at 3 p.m., and the motif is Wild West, with John Wayne and Clint Eastwood portraits, lots of wood and the deepest booths I've ever seen, able to fit six, or maybe eight. The menu has a hokey story about a fictional miner named Zeke, which is sort of charming, actually. Imagine, a diner with a concept that's more 1850s than 1950s.

Biscuits and gravy are a specialty, but that's not my thing. I had two eggs, sausage links and home fries ($6.15); others had the breakfast sandwich ($5.79), chicken fried steak and home fries ($7.35) and, for the cop with a cast-iron stomach, the chili cheese onion omelet ($8.09).

Everybody pronounced themselves pleased, although I would warn you away from the sausages, dinky things that looked fresh from the supermarket freezer. Zeke's is known for its wagon wheel-size pancakes. As stated here about Guasti Homestyle Cafe, I'm not a "big breakfast" guy, but if you are, Zeke's portions should satisfy you. Besides, it's a homey place.

The cops told me Zeke's has been around since the early 1980s, beginning in the shopping plaza at 4th and Grove before moving a few blocks east to 4th and Vineyard in the 1990s.

Lunchtime sandwich offerings on the menu made me think I should hit them up, so I've since returned for a meatloaf sandwich. It was only okay, but the fries were above average, and the service was friendly. The waitress even called me sweetheart a few times. You gotta love that. Zeke's isn't spectacular, but it's a nice regular-folks place.

Philly's Grill, 1701 S. Grove Ave. (at Francis), Ontario

Sometimes you fall out of the habit of a visiting a restaurant. The reasons might be obvious, like a bad experience, or they might be obscure. You might just be tired of a place. For probably a year in circa 2001 this South Grove sandwich shop, then known as Philadelphia Grill, was a weekly stop. Then I gave up on it and moved on.

Recently I thought I'd try it again. In business since 1986, Philly's and its green awning are still there, open Monday to Friday as befits its business park location. The UPS drivers who used to fill a couple of booths at lunchtime were absent, but I was there a bit late. The interior has been spruced up and the staff now brings your order to you.

They don't have the daily specials they used to (curry chicken on Mondays and spaghetti on Wednesdays were favorites), but the menu remains wide-ranging: cheesesteaks, burgers, deli and sub sandwiches, wraps, teriyaki, salads, spaghetti, fajitas, grilled fish and traditional breakfasts. Whew! Some of it isn't even on the menu board, only in the paper menu.

I had the cheesesteak combo ($7.39), which comes with fries (average) and soda. The sandwich was on a crusty roll with chopped meat, provolone and grilled onions. I'm no expert, but it was a good version of the Philly steak, even though it was made in a California industrial zone by Koreans.

I've since returned for teriyaki chicken ($6.39). Philly's Grill isn't going to be a weekly stop again, but I may be back. Revisiting it has been a pleasure.

Liberty Bell Burgers, 142 N. Mountain Ave. (at Holt), Ontario

Perhaps the Inland Valley's most patriotically named restaurant, Liberty Bell Burgers' logo thoughtfully includes the crack in the bell.

Inside, of course, it's just another off-brand burger joint. The menu has sandwiches, burritos, breakfasts and, on weekends, menudo. There's a menu on the counter and photos of various menu items up above, most of which are not photographed well. One is the "manager's special," which is two burgers.

I got the burger combo ($5.55 with tax). As with most mom-and-pop places, the burger is nothing special -- skinny pre-formed patty, lettuce, onion, tomato, mayo -- but somewhat better than a chain. The fries were okay. The whole thing came on a plate, a nice touch.

A sign in the window warned that all activities are monitored by video camera. Oh, Liberty Bell Burgers, you're infringing on my freedoms -- but that's 21st century America for you.

Ramon's Cactus Patch, 647 W. California St. (at Mission and San Antonio), Ontario

A model home turned into a restaurant with a cactus garden out front, at the confluence of three streets, the location of Ramon's Cactus Patch is as unusual as its name. (The simplest way to get there is to take Mission Boulevard.)

Ramon's is also the oldest restaurant in Ontario, opening in 1937 and still owned all this time by the same man, Ramon Sanchez.

Inside this quirky gem are high-backed wooden booths salvaged from the old Orange Hotel in downtown Ontario, where Ramon's plied its trade before moving here in 1962, and framed photos of various old Ontario buildings. A vintage painting of a mysterious Mexican beauty is the focal point of one wall. The pre-electronic cash register is decades old. The overall effect is like stepping into another world.

The two-page menu is faded, like an artifact from an earlier era. Other than the prices, the menu probably hasn't been updated since the 1960s. The cooking is plain and comforting, a reflection of mainstream Mexican American food from midcentury, stubbornly untrendy.

Some don't like the tacos, which use essentially a hamburger patty as the filling; I haven't developed the habit either. I always go for the chicken burrito ($5), which comes with a tiny salad with a salsa-like dressing. The complimentary chips and salsa are always good, the lightly spicy salsa arriving in a curious tapered glass bottle that resembles the one Barbara Eden slept in.

Like Vince's Spaghetti and Yangtze, Ramon's is a time capsule, one that offers a taste of old Ontario. Ramon still visits his restaurant most days. Today (Friday, May 21), he turns 96. Go wish him a happy birthday.

Alina's Lebanese Cuisine, 2250 S. Archibald Ave. (at Philadelphia), Ontario.

After a tip from the hungry folks at the Ontario Police Department, whose headquarters is nearby, I stopped by Alina's for lunch this week. It's just above the 60 Freeway in a small building fronting an office park.

The interior is a bit bare, pleasant but nothing fancy. You order at your table and pay at the register as you leave. Alina's has eight sandwiches, none more expensive than $5.69, and plate entrees from $7.99 to $13.99. It's all Lebanese food, including a few items I'd never heard of: makanek? soujouk?

I had a kafta kebab ($8.99), which is made of ground beef; it came with rice pilaf, fattoush salad, hummus, garlic spread and pita bread. It was all very good, and filling. I also tried a jallab ($2.49) drink, which was a taste I may not acquire, but drinkable.

All the food here is made fresh to order, down to chopping the lettuce and tomatoes. Don't expect your meal in five minutes, but expect it to be good. The dining room was almost full at 12:15 p.m., a healthy sign that Alina's, in business for a year, may be with us for a while.

Tortas Sinaloa, 2252 S. Euclid Ave. (at Philadelphia), Ontario; also at 9765 Sierra Ave., Fontana; 1520 W. 6th St., Corona; 1497 Mt. Vernon Ave., Colton; Baldwin Park; Santa Ana; and Tijuana.

At loose ends for lunch Wednesday, I headed south on Euclid from downtown to see what I might find. In a shopping plaza with a Food 4 Less on the southwest corner of Euclid and Philadelphia, I found Tortas Sinaloa, which beckoned with the promise of a cheap, filling meal.

Walking through the doors was a "wow" moment. The space has unusually high ceilings and is cavernous, encompassing what were probably two adjacent storefronts originally. Three giant murals fill one wall, with a fourth mural on another. There's plenty of seating, the tables placed far apart. The first impression is that it's quite an operation.

The menu has 60 tortas from $2.50 to $5.99. These are grilled Mexican sandwiches, for the uninitiated. A large variety of juice drinks, licuados and smoothies are offered. The menu is in Spanish, which poses a challenge, but the two servers I talked with were bilingual.

I went for a Fontana sandwich ($5.95): carne asada, avocado, cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion and refried beans, and a strawberry-pineapple-papaya smoothie ($4.25). The drink came in a mug 7 inches tall, so they didn't skimp. The sandwich was delicious, rivaling the ones at Los Jalapenos in Rancho Cucamonga, my favorite. But the choices are far more limited there.

Tortas Sinaloa has other locations, including Tijuana, but the main office is Ontario, according to the menu.

Plenty of light comes through the expanse of windows. The tables are decorated with fruit art and the shelves behind the counter are stocked with fresh fruit. It's a neat atmosphere that offers one of those pleasant am-I-in-Ontario moments. It just goes to show, if you go searching and keep an open mind, there's no telling what you'll find.

WaBa Grill, 9670 Haven Ave. No. 104 (at 6th), Rancho Cucamonga; also 4110 Edison Ave., Chino; 9870 Sierra Ave., Fontana; 1055 W. Philadelphia St. and 800 S. Milliken Ave., Ontario.

WaBa Grill is a new name to me, although as you can see above, it has four other Inland Valley locations, as well as others around SoCal. The Rancho location just opened in a new center next to Dickey's BBQ just north of 4th Street.

It's a teriyaki bowl place, but one emphasizing the reputed healthfulness of the items: all-natural ingredients, no additives, no skin-on chicken, no oil and no frying.

I had been wary after a sign in the window during construction promised, among other things, "vegitables." Misspellings of core products aside, I gave WaBa a try earlier this week.

I got the No. 2, the chicken plate ($6.99), with brown rather than white rice (80 cents more) and a soda ($1.60). The portion was filling, often an issue with chicken bowl places, and the food tasty. A small salad and orange slices come with.

WaBa also has steak, salmon and veggie bowls and plates from $4.19 to $8.99.

The interior is kind of cool, done in white, orange and red and with mod-ish wall treatments resembling giant brackets. It's like Pinkberry with chicken. WaBa is a decent option if you're in the area. And I am.

This week's restaurant: Yangtze Chinese Restaurant, 126 N. Euclid Ave. (at B), Ontario.

Yangtze has been a fixture of downtown Ontario since 1961 and, with the demise of Jong's and Chung King, it's the oldest Chinese restaurant in the Inland Valley. Back then, Chinese food was considered exotic; it was one of the few foreign cuisines available in the area, along with Mexican and (oooh) Italian. Now you can get kung pao chicken and a dozen glazed at any number of local donut shops.

Not much has changed at Yangtze except the prices, from what I can gather. Step inside and you feel you've stepped back in time. The interior retains the slatted wood walls, the slender hanging lamps, the avocado booths and the 3-D dioramas that radiate a 1960s ambiance. Author Charles Phoenix likes to say that '60s icons James Bond and Sophia Loren could dine there and not look out of place.

Mr. Gin, the founder, is gone, but Mrs. Gin, one of my favorite people in Ontario, still greets customers and works the cash register. The waitresses have been there for decades. So have some of the customers.

Now, as for the food. I had dinner there once, perhaps six years ago, before an Ontario council meeting. It was, shall we say, not to my taste. I returned a couple of weeks ago for lunch only because Phoenix was in town and suggested we meet there. He told me he hadn't eaten at Yangtze in decades.

He cleaned his plate, I ate half of my shrimp chow mein. It would not surprise me to learn that the cook had opened a can of Chung King vegetables into a pan, tossed in a few canned shrimp, cornstarch and some MSG, heated it and put it on a plate. To my mind, retro charm can go only so far.

Yet there are those who dote on Yangtze. Generations of locals had their first taste of Chinese food there and its old-school American take on the cuisine still meets their needs. It's the food they grew up with, cooked the way it's supposed to taste. Some of the regulars drive from miles away.

Others barely leave. An older gentleman a couple of booths away from us at lunch was eating a steak, and when he left, the waitress cheerfully told him, "See you tonight."

This week's restaurant: Page One Cafe, 215 E. C St. (at Lemon), Ontario.

Page One is the cafe at rear of the Ontario City Library and was added in 2006, after the library renovation. There are two entrances from the outside and one from the library itself. It's operated by SMG, which runs the Ontario Convention Center and has a large food and beverage department to support its events.

There was grand talk in the beginning of a seasonal menu, fresh soups and sandwiches, plus live music out on the enclosed patio. I dropped in a few times before council meetings for a quick bite and the cafe seemed underfunded. I had a chicken pesto pocket that was rubbery and inedible. From that point, I stuck to a fruit cup or yogurt -- items impossible to mess up -- before gradually forgetting the cafe was there.

Well, it turns out the cafe and its menu are now close to what was originally envisioned. The place was busy Monday at the noon hour and the menu is considerably larger and more ambitious than before. There are a few basic breakfasts, but sandwiches, salads and soups are the main items. They don't have a grill, but they can do almost anything else.

There's a Healthy Ontario menu to go along with the local health campaign and even sugar-free cookies, as well as sugary treats, from Sweet Nick's bakery in Corona. Not to mention Starbucks coffee, the only Starbucks outlet downtown.

You order at the counter and they bring the food to your table, on real plates and with real silverware.

I had a Cuban panini with fries ($6.95) and an iced tea and it wasn't bad. The crinkle-cut fries are made fresh to order and arrived hot and crispy. The sandwich came on a roll rather than pressed bread, which was unusual, but with ham, cheese and a pickle sliced lengthwise, it was tasty.

A couple of days later, I went back for another meal so I could take photos. (My camera batteries were dead the first time, darn the luck.) This time I got the daily special, a curry chicken wrap with a tomato salad ($6.50). Tucked inside the sundried-tomato wrap were curried chicken, romaine lettuce and, adding a nice crunch, sliced apples. I also got a sugar-free sugar cookie just for the novelty ($1). (Since most of the name cancels itself out, wouldn't it be simpler to call it simply a "cookie"? But I digress.)

My only quibble would be that the oil and vinegar from the tomato salad spread over the entire plate, including the wrap. But it was close to a restaurant-quality meal. I wouldn't drive here from Upland or anything, but if you're near downtown, or visiting the library, Page One is a clean, comfortable spot for lunch or a snack.

The ambience is Starbucks-like, with a two-story ceiling, high tables, free Wi-Fi, a bookcase of cheap books for sale and an enclosed patio with more seating. And, of course, you've got a library just steps away. How many restaurants can make that claim?

Page One hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Closed Sunday.

This week's restaurant: Fong Noodle, 1515 N. Mountain Ave. (at 6th), Ontario.

I'm sure I would never have tried Fong Noodle, a small Chinese restaurant outside the Edwards 14 theater off the 10 Freeway, if not for a tip from reader Stephanie Ulmer. Ulmer said prior to Fong's arrival, it was typical buffet-style Chinese. Now they cook your food fresh when you order it. She and her friends love it.

Curious, I gave Fong Noodle a try Wednesday evening. The menu has Americanized Chinese stuff like broccoli beef and the ubiquitous orange chicken, but also boasts chow fun (broad flat noodles) and Singapore-style noodles (thin, spicy), both of which are relatively rare in these parts.

I ordered shrimp chow fun ($6.95). The order was passed from the middle-aged woman to the middle-aged cook, who sprung into action. A simple salad was brought out, followed several minutes later by a large plate of noodles, plus an egg roll. The noodles were fresh, the shrimp plentiful and the portion enormous; I took home half.

They make their own noodles, the counter-woman confirmed. How about that!

The storefront location is sparkling clean, the decor understated: paper lanterns, a decorated fan and two pieces of traditional art. There are two outdoor tables and plenty of inside seating. And, that evening, plenty of empty seats.

"I was initially afraid to write to you," Ulmer confided, "because once you taste it, you will rave too, and I don't want King Taco-sized lines to form for the tasty chow. But in this economy I thought it was better to send more folks than to keep it to myself."

Thanks for divulging your secret.

Photo by Neil Nisperos

This week's restaurant: King Taco, 406 N. Mountain Ave. (at D), Ontario.

Admittedly, most of my dinner experience was covered in my Wednesday column, but that was more about being there than the actual food.

In short, it's a very busy place, with long lines. You order at the counter, sit down and pick up your food when your number is called.

Quality-wise, King Taco could be the In-N-Out of Mexican fast food, or the Tommy's, another cult-like place with long lines for simple fare. The five of us at our table were all impressed by the quality of the meats especially. You can view the menu here.

On the authenticity scale, King Taco doesn't seem to have watered things down despite being a chain: Fillings include lengua (tongue), cabeza (head), buche (pig stomach), molleja (chicken stomach) and suadero (beef brisket), besides the more common asada (steak), pollo (chicken), carnitas (pork) and al pastor (marinated pork).

We stuck with the basics -- al pastor and carnitas sopes, al pastor and carne asada burritos, carne asada and chicken tacos -- being willing to carry adventurousness only so far.

We also liked the chile and verde salsas, which come in small plastic cups and pack a punch. But there were some downsides.

One of us ordered chips and salsa. The chips were bagged and only average, and she didn't like paying 69 cents for salsa when, as she learned when she took her seat, the exact same containers were given out for free on request to others at the table. Also, $1.25 for a tiny cup of guacamole seemed rather high.

There's also the matter of whether the food was worth the half-hour wait from walking inside to picking up the order. You can get essentially the same food all over the valley with no waiting. The lines will die down, but perhaps not that much; King Tacos are high-volume outfits and the layout, with four cashier stations, is set up in anticipation of crowds.

A poll of our table revealed that everyone was willing to come back despite the lines and the hectic, noisy atmosphere. Actually, I may have been the only lukewarm voice on that count. Another said he was more likely to take his food to go, or even eat at the curb (there's no outdoor seating), because of the hubbub.

The restaurant, btw, is closed today for Good Friday.

This week's restaurant: Toro Sushi & Grill, 1520 N. Mountain Ave. (at 6th), Ontario.

A couple of years back Toro moved from Chino to Ontario into the new neighborhood center at Mountain Avenue and the 10 Freeeway. It's a large, high-ceilinged place in modernist style, done mostly in black, with a few Japanese accents. But the prevailing spirit may be best symbolized by the Raiders plaque behind the sushi bar and a nearby sign reading "Macho sushi $4.50."

Toro seems somewhat bar crowd-oriented, but the food's not bad. I've had the salmon skin salad ($7.50) and liked it. This week I had albacore sushi ($4), yellowtail belly sushi ($5.50) and a salmon skin cut roll ($6). The fish seems fresh and the presentation is nice, if slightly flashy, with sauces drizzled across two of the three orders. Toro also has grilled seafood, chicken and steak entrees from $10 to $30.

I would compare Toro to Kabuki in Victoria Gardens or Sakura Ichi in Pomona as slightly upscale, untraditional takes on sushi -- not the best, but above average.

Toro should work on its motto, though. According to the takeout menu, its mission is to "touch and embrace our customers hearts and souls, as well as their pallets." Please take your hands off my flat wooden transport structure.

This week's restaurant: Sal & Sons Pizza & Pasta, 1520 N. Mountain Ave. (at Sixth), Ontario.

Sal's opened in November in the modern-looking shopping center visible from the 10 Freeway across from the Edwards 14. Sal's has some connection to the Graziano's chain, although it's unclear what. The menus are similar.

It's a peppy, fast-food-looking place, on the small side, with yellow and red being the dominant colors. You order at the counter. They have a variety of pizzas, a dozen pastas, plus calzones and hot and cold sandwiches.

I've now been there twice. In January, I got one of the lunch specials, a half-order of lasagna with a salad and soda (price forgotten, but under $7). Kind of thin -- it was like the half order was done horizontally, giving you two layers out of four -- but good, and the price was right.

On Wednesday I returned for a pizza. I got an 8-inch mini-pizza, luna style ($7.70), a small salad ($2.35) and small drink ($1.25).

The pizza had olive oil, garlic, mozzarella and romano, no tomato sauce. Perhaps too much olive oil, but the crust was nice and thin, with a light, crunchy edge. The salads here are just chopped lettuce and a single tomato slice. It might be worth adding a topping for 95 cents. Or not, since for $5.25 you could get a small antipasto salad.

Sal's has a variety of lunch specials and dinner specials, all under $7. Not a bad place for a low-cost meal if you're in the neighborhood, such as before or after a movie.

This week's restaurant: Tokyo Wako, 4480 Ontario Mills Parkway (at Franklin), Ontario.

This teppan grill restaurant is in a minimall on the south side of the Mills. A fire pit near the entrance provides a place to warm up if you're waiting to be seated. I don't know if that's ever the case in this economy: A friend and I were seated immediately on a Tuesday night around 8 p.m. and the restaurant was mostly empty.

The interior, however, is enormous: a large sushi bar and dining area as well as a large teppanyaki room. And it's lovely too, even if the koi "river" (a la Tokyo Tokyo) was dry.

The special is worth trying: For $29.95, two can have the full teppan experience with both chicken and steak, plus soup, salad and rice. The results were pretty good, too.

But one has to ask: What is the point? Benihana does the exact same thing. And I mean the exact same thing. The grill seating, the soup, the salad, the shrimp appetizer, the vegetables (zucchini, onion, mushrooms and bean sprouts), it's awfully familiar. Ditto with the chef's tricks, which mostly involve randomly knocking various implements and containers against the edge of the grill, and making the de rigeur onion volcano.

The food at Tokyo Wako was fine, the decor was a cut above Benihana and you can probably be seated faster. But how about a bit more wako?

View the menu here.

Lisa's Gourmet Foods, 600 E. D St. (at Monterey), Ontario.

Lisa's is a convenience store on the corner of a residential neighborhood and must have been there for decades, although the exterior has a fresh appearance. I had no idea they had sandwiches until Jim Bowman, a city councilman, urged me to try the deli counter sometime. The former fire chief said Lisa's is a favorite of firefighters, whose main station is just blocks away.

The market itself has staples like potato chips, baby food and toilet paper, plus booze, and I'm unclear where the "gourmet" part comes in. Maybe it's an old-school name like Upland's C&M Fancy Mart, which doesn't look all that fancy. Anyway, the deli counter is in the back. They have a variety of hot and cold sandwiches, most of them $3.75 for a half and $6.25 for a whole.

I got one of the Lisa's Specials, a half Godfather ($4). It had ham, salami and mortadella, plus lettuce, tomato, mayo and, crucially, olive oil. There are two picnic tables outside, but with a guy lounging foodless at one and a fellow with a shopping cart laden with recyclables stalled near the other, I headed to the Civic Center a few blocks west, the closest thing to a park that came to mind.

The sandwich, on crusty French bread, was outstanding. And filling. And, for the price, a six-inch sandwich was a steal. Highly recommended.

The ambience of the Civic Center, not so much so. East of the library is a broad, utopian-style, empty plaza. It's almost completely characterless, but it does have a couple of benches, and it's certainly quiet. I ate there in peace, undisturbed except for the effects of stupefying architectural mediocrity (although the library is nice).

For a richer aesthetic experience, take your Lisa's sandwich somewhere else. Wonder if they'd let you eat at the fire station?

This week's restaurant: Mariscos Los Enrique's, 812 Mountain Ave. (at Mission), Ontario.

I had to get down to Mountain below Holt for the "Moutain" photo earlier this week -- Councilman Jim Bowman had given me the tip, btw -- and I went at lunchtime, figuring I'd find a restaurant in the area. Continuing south to Mission, I found Mission Plaza, a strip center fronted by a Jack in the Box, on the southwest corner. The center also turned out to be home to Mariscos Los Enrique's, a Mexican seafood restaurant. Bingo!

The interior is rather nice: big broad windows, a large dining area and four colorful murals, two of them quite large, with beach or ocean scenes featuring sharks, crabs, octopi, catfish and other of our undersea friends. Tables have Coronita cartons with various hot sauces in the slots that once held bottles.

The menu is heavy on seafood items. You could go crazy and get a large, $105 party platter of shrimp, scallops, calamari, crab legs, etc. More reasonably, they have various shrimp, fish fillet and octopus dishes from $9 to $13, plus an array of soups, tacos, burritos, tostadas and appetizers, and breakfast items too.

My server brought out thick tortilla chips, a sinus-clearing salsa, lime wedges and a small plate of fried catfish chunks on cucumber slices, speared with toothpicks. I ordered a catfish sauteed in garlic ($9.75).

The result was a whole fish, which was deep-fried -- that was the other option and apparently the server misunderstood my choice. But the result was quite good, the skin pleasingly crunchy, the meat tender. It came with beans, rice, a mix of diced tomatoes and onions, and corn tortillas. It was a satisfying meal.

Life doesn't often take me to Mission and Mountain, but it's nice to know there's a good restaurant down there.

This week's restaurant: Joanne's Cafe, 1141 N. Mountain Ave. (at Princeton), Ontario.

Joanne's is in an A-frame building on Mountain near Fourth Street and was most recently Home Kitchen. Longtime residents will recall it as the Pie Place. *

I ate there months ago, without reviewing it, when it was still Home Kitchen, and on Friday thought I'd give it a try under the new name. The place seems virtually the same.

Inside it's a moderately-sized open room, somewhat updated from the classic coffee shop -- there are chairs at the counter, for instance, not swivel seats, and carpeting rather than tile -- and with a lot of pink, green and orange. Cheery and colorful. I didn't notice the fish tank until on my way out.

The prices seem reasonable to me. You can get a meatloaf dinner (the menu's come-on: "Mom's old recipe will find a new friend in you!") with vegetables, mashed potatoes, gravy, garlic toast and soup or salad for a mere $6.99. The five "senior breakfast" specials ("value-priced for seniors 55 and up") are priced under $4.

If you want dinner, you'd better have it for lunch: Hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days.

I had a tuna melt ($5.99), with cole slaw rather than fries or fruit. Big and piled thick, on sourdough with cheddar, the sandwich was pretty good. The slaw, kind of tasteless. The server kept the ice tea coming. Overall, an unexciting but pleasant enough experience.

Disappointing, though, that the onetime Pie Place * is now pie-less. But if you need to indulge, there's a Baskin Robbins next door.

* By acclimation (see all the comments), this was actually an outpost of the House of Pies chain, not The Pie Place. Thanks for the correction.

Maria's Italian Deli, 202 W. Holt Blvd. (at Laurel), Ontario.

Maria's opened this spring in a newly remodeled two-story building at Holt and Laurel, a couple of blocks west of Euclid, and it's become popular in the neighborhood as an alternative to the Mexican restaurants and hamburger stands in the immediate area.

I've eaten there a couple of times. The interior is long, narrow and a little bare, with a Van Gogh poster the only decoration, but the place is neat as a pin. My first visit I had a ham and mortadella with provolone ($6.50) and ate outside; the second time I had a Classic Italian Salame (salami, pepperoni and turkey) with provolone (also $6.50) and ate inside.

Outside is fun. There's a patio with six shaded tables, surrounded by a wrought iron fence, and from there you can enjoy the outdoors in relative comfort and watch the Holt Boulevard scene, such as it is. For instance, a guy walked by in a Brooklyn Dodgers jersey that read, on the back, "Cash 4 God" with a phone number. Inside is cool on a hot day, if sedate; I was the only customer for a late lunch.

The sandwiches weren't bad. In fact, they were better than expected, given the rather shaky help at the counter. If you're thinking an Italian deli should be boisterous and full of life, staffed by crusty, colorful experts at the art of sandwich-making, this isn't that.

The staff is pleasant, though. My second visit, the owner (who doesn't know me) said as I left: "Have a great day, okay? We really appreciate your business." And you know, she sounded as though she meant it.

This week's restaurant: Lollicup, 4323 E. Mills Circle, No. 104 (at Concours), Ontario.

Lollicup is a chain of tea and coffee shops specializing in boba drinks; there are other local locations in Chino Hills (14320 Chino Hills Parkway) and Pomona (961 E. Mission Blvd.) But the Ontario location, which is operated by a family from Indonesia, also sells food.

The menu has a few fried snacks, which may be common to other Lollicups, but the Ontario store has a small bakery-type case atop the counter, a sign near it about taro pudding and various jellies, a few bagged items for sale to-go (Dendeng Sapi, described as sweet beef jerky, and something crunchy-looking called Rempeyek) and a short lunch menu displayed on the counter. A chalkboard had five or six specials, including Soto Ayam (a soup) and several noodle dishes.

From the specials I ordered Mie Goreng Jawa ($6.50), which was much like pad Thai, with thin noodles, onion, Chinese cabbage, tomatoes and chicken. It was too much for one meal; I took the other half home. For a beverage, I had a jasmine milk tea ($3.25) with boba (35 cents).

The interior seats 20. It basically looks like a Starbucks except with tables. Kind of cute. There's a Korean-style yogurt shop, Berry Trees, a couple of doors down but when I left I was too full to go in.

This week's restaurant is Sammy's Burger (note lack of plural), 765 W. Holt Blvd. (at San Antonio), Ontario.

Sammy's is a stone's throw from Grinder Haven, which is an occasional stop for me, but I'd never tried Sammy's. It's in a long, narrow building on a long, narrow lot, fronted by an old-school sign reading "Burgers" (the top appears to have been removed) that is almost hidden by neighboring signs. Blink and you miss the place.

According to research by the Ontario Library's Joanne Boyajian, 765 W. Holt, previously a home, in 1969 was reborn as Burger Lane Drive-In with "drive thru service and inside seating," to quote the phone book. It was also the Burger Lane main office, with a second location at 1715 W. Holt in Pomona. By 1975, the name was Jerry's Burgers; in 1980, it was A 'n N Burgers; in 1990, it became Sammy's, its name for the past 18 years.

It's seen better days, but Sammy's was moderately busy when I went in for lunch Friday. They have the usual array of burgers, a dozen hot sandwiches, plus burritos, teriyaki and basic breakfasts. I got the hamburger, fries and soda special, which was $4.09 with tax. My food was cooked fresh and delivered after five or 10 minutes.

The fries were crisp and better than average; I finished them, which is rare for me. The burger came on a soft bun with Thousand Island, lettuce, tomato, pickles and chopped onions. Tasty and filling.

The takeout menu brags "Best Burger in Town." It's a respectable hamburger and certainly a contender for the best in Ontario. A blog reader says Sammy's has a good pastrami burger. The menu's most expensive hamburger is the $4.25 Sammy Burger. I don't know what it is, but it must be big, since it's pricier than the double cheeseburger.

Sammy's is Korean-owned and the back of the menu charmingly explains how to introduce yourself in Korean or speak several "useful expressions." I'll have to practice before I try "How are you doing?": "Eo-Tteo-K'e-Ji-Nae-Sae-Yo?"