Recently in Restaurants: Upland Category

H. Salt Fish & Chips, 67 E. Foothill Blvd. (at 2nd), Upland

With the demise of Long John Silver's in Montclair, the only corporate venue for fried fish locally is H. Salt in Upland. (One non-corporate venue is Pomona Fish Market.) I dropped in for dinner this week before a city council meeting.

H. Salt is in a strip center by a bike shop and barbershop, near a laser tag center, a 99 Cents Only store and a lot of vacancies. The center is in desperate need of redevelopment. H. Salt is a tiny place, the door only a few paces from the counter. It's run by an older Taiwanese couple who, like the decor, look to have been there for years. I'd guess the shop has been in place since the 1970s and some of the decor is probably original: English family crests, pink and aqua booths, a faux Tube map with icons for Westminster, Charing Cross and other stops.

They have fish, shrimp, scallops, clams, oysters, and chicken strips and wings. I got the London Special, two pieces of fish with chips ($5.30). They cook to order and the result is about what you'd expect. Actually, it might be a little better: not too greasy, not too fishy. The setting is a bit dumpy, though, and in the shop's small confines, the near-constant sound of bubbling cooking oil was as loud as a fountain.

There was a steady stream of customers, and people on Yelp generally like the place. According to Wikipedia, the chain was launched in 1965 by an English expatriate man named Haddon Salt. There are 27 locations in California.

Le Bistro, 121 W. Foothill Blvd. (at Euclid), Upland

You can find Italian food anywhere and no one thinks anything of it, but French food remains rare despite decades of work by Julia Child.

Le Bistro, which opened in late 2011, is one of only two French restaurants in the Inland Valley (the other is La Creperie in Chino), but in a way, it's not all that new. The same family had Cafe Provencal, The Blackboard and La Cheminee, all in Upland, Montclair or Ontario. Now a new generation has launched Le Bistro in the Vons center.

As the bistro name suggests, this is a nice but relatively casual spot. Formerly a budget Italian place where you ordered at the counter, the interior has been classed up with black tablecloths, better furniture, dimmed lighting and servers, but there are flat screen TVs in the corners and the kitchen is still open, with the former occupant's pizza oven still in service.

The dinner menu has pizzas, pastas, steaks and salads, with sandwiches and crepes at lunch and daily specials at either mealtime.

I ate dinner there recently, opting for the French staple coq au vin ($23), which is two pieces of chicken in wine sauce with sauteed vegetables and croquettes. I liked it. I also ordered a side salad ($6.50), which was fine but hardly worth the money. Overall, though, a very good meal, although the dinner was a splurge for me. (I'm more of a $5-$15 fella.)

I returned for lunch, ordering another staple, the croque monsieur ($9), essentially a hot ham and cheese sandwich, pressed, which comes with either fries or virtually the same salad I ordered at dinner. A satisfying lunch. Entrees at lunch range from $9 to $13, which is more in my price range.

It's early yet, but Le Bistro is already one of the Inland Valley's finer restaurants and is well worth a try. The restaurant doesn't seem to have a website, but the menu is posted in the window. And if you don't want a crepe or chocolate fondant cake for dessert, there's a Cold Stone Creamery next door.

Windy C's Chicago Hot Dogs, 140 S. Mountain Ave. (at 8th), Upland

Upland is now home to two independent, non-Wienerschnitzel, non-Jody Maroni hot dog joints, which I believe is two more than any other city in the valley. Johnson's arrived this fall. Windy C's has been around for 15 years.

It's a dinky place with 11 seats in a storefront by a Rubio's and in the same center as Fresh & Easy and Dollar Tree. A brief experiment with a second location downtown (on C, appropriately) failed, but the Mountain storefront continues.

I've been there a few times over the years. I don't have any experience with Chicago hot dogs, so I can't say how this place measures up. Chicago dogs are loaded up with too many condiments for my taste anyway. But I went in again recently for a Wrigley ($7.39 as a combo with soda and fries), which comes with sauerkraut, mustard, cheese and a pickle slice on a steamed bun. I liked it.

Other dogs have Windy City-friendly names like Rush Street and Comiskey, and they also serve chili, corn, Polish dogs and Italian beef. There's a signed photo on the wall from Richard Daley, who presumably signed the photo in the City of Broad Shoulders rather than the City of Gracious Living.

Windy C's uses Vienna beef dogs, which owner Freddy Johnson says is more authentic than the red hots at Johnson's. (Note how the competing place's name is also his own name. That's gotta smart.) Signs proclaim that Vienna beef is the official dog of the Sox and Cubs.

Now, about the service. A lot of people hate it here. As one Yelper put it: "I believe the owner is at his wit's end and has the attitude that he's super fed up with your BS even though you've never met him before." Overall the place gets 1.5 stars. The New Diner blog didn't like it either. Two reviews on Trip Advisor are brutal, with one comparing Johnson to "Seinfeld's" Soup Nazi and other other saying the owner laughed at his complaint.

Johnson is abrupt and that obviously rubs a lot of people the wrong way, although from my observation over a lunch hour he has friendlier interplay with customers he knows. People always wonder how he can stay in business, but the New Diner asked that question in 2005, and you'll notice Windy C's is still hanging tough. People who aren't on the Internet must be made of sterner stuff.

Tango Baires Cafe, 870 E. Foothill (at Campus), Upland

The only full-service Argentinian restaurant in the Inland Valley (a takeout place, Empanadas to Go, is in Chino), Tango Baires has been in business since about 2000 in a small shopping center on Foothill Boulevard in Upland. It's next door to a Baskin Robbins and a couple of doors from Brandon's.

I ate there once or twice not long after it opened and had vaguely desired to return. A chance came recently with two friends, one a first-timer and the other a frequent customer who discovered the place last year.

Tango Baires is small, with only a half-dozen small tables, but is colorfully decorated and cozy. Although it's a cafe, they take your order at your table. Our server was relaxed and cheerful.

The menu has salads, hot and cold sandwiches, barbecue, steaks, pastas, pizzas and desserts. Argentina has a large Italian population and the country has put its own spin on traditional Italian dishes. The menu is online with helpful descriptions.

The restaurant is also open for breakfast, with a few items, but they don't open until 10 a.m. on weekends and 10:30 on weekdays, so the cafe may be on a different schedule than you.

I had the milanesa cordobesa sandwich ($8), a breaded steak with ham and a fried egg on top, and lightly toasted. Tasty, and also enormous; half would have been a decent meal.

The first-timer got the pesto Tango Baires pasta ($11.90) with chicken ($2.50) and liked it, although he preferred the bit of the sandwich I shared. "I'd come back," he said.

The regular, who is vegetarian, got the fugazzetta pizza ($7 for a half), which is mozzarella, black olives, onions and oregano on an airy, pastry-like crust. The half was five slices.

"This tastes just like the food I had in Buenos Aires," she said with a contented sigh about her recent vacation. I wouldn't know. For me, it was just a pleasant meal in Upland.

The Heights Restaurant and Bar, 1883 N. Campus Ave. (at 19th St.), Upland

Part of the Colonies shopping center off the 210 Freeway, The Heights is in a building along Campus and has established a good reputation for its food and bar. I'd been meaning to check it out, especially after it captured "Best Restaurant Bar" honors in the Bulletin's Readers Choice Awards. Recently I met a friend there for lunch.

The interior is casually nice, with comfortable booths, tile floor, gold and deep brown colors and a classy feel. Good place for a business lunch or to impress someone. The dining room is separated from the bar seating, but that area looked inviting too.

I had the fish and chips (price forgotten, sorry), hand-battered halibut with fries and slaw on the side. It's one of their signature items and proved to be among the best fish and chips I've had. The fries were good, the slaw was meh. My friend had the Cobb salad and said he liked it.

Service was attentive and we got plenty of refills. The dining room, almost empty at 11:45, was almost full by 1 p.m. Clearly the Heights is doing something right.

They have burgers, sandwiches, salads, pizzas, lasagna, pork chops and chicken marsala, among other items. Can you believe it's owned by the same family that has the Village Grille diner in the Claremont Village? "Fine dining" is a stretch, but The Heights probably is the nicest restaurant in north Upland.

Taqueria Los Magueyes, 185 S. Euclid Ave. (at 8th), Upland

This walkup taco stand lies on a quiet stretch of Euclid, a few blocks south of the Civic Center. The 1962-vintage building looks like a classic SoCal burger shack: angled roof, crushed rock facade, an order window and outdoor-only seating.

Actually, though, the building began as Taco Aqui, there from 1962 to 1974, followed by Gus' Burgers for the next 30 years, according to research by the Upland Public Library. Classic Burger operated from 2003 until Los Magueyes took over in 2010.

As Charles Phoenix put it in "Cruising the Pomona Valley": "With wings wide spread, this jet age taco and burger stand is ready for takeoff."

Los Magueyes, presumably an offshoot of the sitdown restaurant in Upland on 16th Street, has tacos, burritos, tortas, sopes, menudo, breakfast items and burgers.

On one of our recent warm evenings I went there for dinner, getting two fish tacos ($1.50 each), a shrimp taco ($2) and a horchata and eating on the patio. The tacos were pretty good, if not on the level of Senor Baja, and the walk-up concept is unusual. It's like Upland now has its own Juanita's. Way to go, Upland.

Molly's Souper, 388 N. 1st Ave. (at D Street), Upland

Is there a more charming restaurant in Upland? Molly's, located cater-corner from the library, is in a 1912 house with dining inside in one of several first-floor rooms, one of which has a fireplace and all of which look like grandma's house, or outside on an L-shaped patio surrounded by a white picket fence.

They serve breakfast and lunch daily. Breakfasts include all the staples, plus relatively rare items including apple pancakes and mimosa. You can also get green eggs and ham, but I've never dared. Pictured is bacon, eggs and country potatoes.

Lunch is salads, sandwiches and, of course, soup (it's Molly's Souper, after all). A half sandwich and cup of soup is $8.50 and comes with a tiny cup of apple crisp. Awww. Pictured is egg salad and tortellini soup, both fine.

On a warm or hot day, the patio is recommended. The wooden tables and chairs are quaint, the umbrellas big enough to shade everyone and keep you reasonably cool.

The house was converted to a restaurant in 1972 named the Souper and has been owned by Molly Brouse since 1990. I've been an occasional customer for years. The food is good, the ambience is better and the service is always friendly.

Zaky Mediterranean Grill, 1013 W. Foothill Blvd. (at Mulberry), Upland; also 6622 Carnelian St. (at 19th), Rancho Cucamonga

Zaky Grill, which has a mostly-takeout location in Rancho Cucamonga off the 210, expanded to a larger second location in Upland a few weeks ago along Foothill Boulevard.

As an occasional customer at the Carnelian spot, which has just a couple of molded-plastic tables, I stopped in for dinner recently in Upland, where Zaky's shares a new-ish minimall with a Starbucks, a cell phone store and a pizza parlor.

This Zaky's has plenty of dining space. You still order at the counter, and the menu of sandwiches, plates, salads and rotisserie chicken turns out to be exactly the same in both locations. (View it here.)

I had the chicken kabob sandwich ($5), which is prepared to order on pita bread with garlic sauce, onions, pickles and tomatoes. Delicious.

The owner recognized me from previous visits and gave me a dessert, knafeh ($4), a pastry with cream cheese and honey, very nice.

I'd been to the minimall location before when it was B-Man's Teriyaki and later when it was a Philly's Best. The interior hasn't changed much, being a bit stark, with track lighting near the ceiling that is mildly unpleasant. But Zaky's food is pretty good stuff and the dine-in option is welcome. I hope they beat the location's curse.

zPizza, 1943 N. Campus Ave. (at 19th), Upland

zPizza is a chain founded in Laguna Beach with 49 locations in California, but the one in Upland's Colonies Crossroads Center is the only Inland Empire spot. There's also one in Glendora, at 1365 E. Gladstone St. (*Turns out there's also one in Chino Hills at 3090 Chino Ave., although it's not listed on zPizza's website.)

zPizza is in a small storefront on the north end near Starbucks and is cramped, with only a half-dozen tables inside and a few more outside. You order at the counter.

But zPizza is different and pretty good. Their pizzas are on the healthy side, with organic flour and tomato sauce, gourmet toppings and the options of wheat crust or vegan. They even have gluten-free beer, if that's how you roll.

I go there now and then for their slice, salad and soda special ($7). Recently a friend and I tried it out for dinner.

We split a pear and gorgonzola salad ($8.50) and the Tuscan pizza ($17.50 for a large) on whole wheat crust. It's a white pizza, no tomato sauce, with roasted garlic, mozzarella and feta cheese, shiitake and button mushrooms, caramelized onions, truffle oil and thyme. We liked the pizza and the salad both. The only downsides were the shoebox location and the 9 p.m. closing; it's not a great dinner spot. The service was cheerful.

You can view the menu here. The rustica pizzas, on what they call a "free-form crust," look delicious, as does the curry chicken sandwich.

This isn't the sort of place you'd get a pizza to share with your buddies on football night (although you can get pepperoni), but as essentially a quick-service version of California Pizza Kitchen, it's pretty good. This is my second-favorite Upland pizza joint, after San Biagio's.

Legends Burgers, 2420 W. Arrow Route (at Monte Vista), Upland; also 1645 N. Mountain Ave. (at 16th), Upland; 8775 Baseline Road (at Carnelian), Rancho Cucamonga; 1155 E Route 66 (at Loraine), Glendora

Our local legend is the Legends chain of burger parlors, which are favorites in Alta Loma, Upland and Glendora and which added a fourth location near Claremont and Montclair in late 2009. (The Glendora Legends may no longer be officially connected to the chain as it's not mentioned as a location on the menus.)

They have 20 burgers, a variety of sandwiches and salads and some Mexican items, plus pancakes and omelets for breakfast. In that way they're similar to the valley's better burger spots, the ones that have expansive menus and seem to put more effort into things.

I've been to the two longstanding Upland and Alta Loma Legends but more recently have visited the new one, which is technically in Upland but is only a block from the Claremont Colleges.

Legends does a decent fast-food burger ($3.29), on a sesame bun with lettuce, tomato, purple onion, pickles and Thousand Island dressing, and a chicken gyro ($5.89), with tomato and onion, of similar quality. On one visit I got a small vanilla shake ($2.69), which is made with real ice cream. I found the food acceptable but nothing to rave about.

Legends' decor, all four locations, might best be described as "aggressive kitsch." Almost every square inch of wall space is covered in posters, tin signs, portraits and street signs, involving the usual suspects: I Love Lucy, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Route 66. Lining the walls is a string of license plates, one from each state, in alphabetical order.

It's overwhelming and a bit much for my taste, but the good thing is that Legends is so clean it almost gleams. The service is exceptionally cheerful. The food isn't exactly legendary but the cleanliness and friendliness make for a positive experience.

Fire House Express, 121 W. Foothill Blvd. (at Euclid), Upland

Rather than a fire station with express firefighting service, Fire House Express is a casual pizza and pasta restaurant in a shopping center storefront by Vons. Pizza is baked in an open fire oven, probably accounting for the name.

It's a clean, sharp looking place with modern design and a couple of TVs hanging in the corners. You order at the counter and return to a booth. (A server brings the food to your table.) They sell pizza, sandwiches, fried chicken and pasta. I stopped in for dinner this week and had the lasagna ($7.99) as a dinner with salad and soda ($2.99 more). Later in the week I returned for a pizza slice lunch special with salad and soda ($4.99).

The salad comes in a transparent takeout container but isn't bad for what it is. The lasagna was made while I waited and was essentially a plate of noodles, sauce, cheese and sausage, rather than a tightly layered concoction. Still, I liked it enough to return for the pizza. It's not a high-volume slice place. The chef, who was making a pizza as I ordered, asked what I'd like on my slice. What the heck, I requested sausage and mushrooms.

What arrived was a wide but stubby slice, apparently one-fourth of a small pizza. The crust was airy, almost fluffy, the toppings generous, the sausage especially good.

Overall, Fire House Express was a pleasant surprise. I wouldn't recommend going there for dinner unless you like solitude -- over the course of 90 minutes one evening, I was the only customer -- but it's a good lunch spot if you're anywhere nearby.

Joey's BBQ, 9538 Foothill Blvd. (at Archibald), Rancho Cucamonga; also 1964 W. Foothill Blvd., Upland; 117 W. 2nd St., Pomona; and 3689 Riverside Drive, Chino.

In June Joey's, the Chino-based chain dating to the late 1970s, opened its fourth location, in the former George's Burgers building a bit west of Archibald on Foothill in Rancho Cucamonga. Unusually, Joey's retained the drive-thru, making it one of the few non-burger drive-thrus in the valley -- and the only one where you can get a $28.50 filet mignon.

Inside the restaurant recently at lunchtime, our server wore a headset so she could double on the drive-thru. Not much business there yet, under a dozen customers per day, she reported. I suppose one benefit of the drive-thru is that you could order ribs and feel like Fred Flintstone, except that your car probably won't tip over.

Other than that feature, and the slightly more fast-food feel to the place, this Joey's is pretty much like the others. The menu features beef and pork ribs, steak, chicken, sandwiches and other items. The barbecue is smoky in the Texas style, except for the tangier St. Louis-style pork ribs. The meat is cooked in a closed-pit barbecue, whereas larger chains use a faster, rotisserie-like process.

I've eaten at Joey's downtown Pomona location numerous times over the years, especially before concerts. The food is pretty reliable, although some carp about the prices, which for ribs start at $12. In a cute touch common to Joey's, each table has a miniature wooden steer with a pole from which you can hoist a Joey's flag when you need service.

Our table had pulled pork and turkey breast sandwiches ($12 each), which come with two sides. They were meaty sandwiches -- my friend took home half the turkey -- and tasty too. Our sides were a corn cobette, baked beans, cole slaw and sweet potato fries.

Almost any self-respecting valley resident has eaten at a Joey's at least once. Your thoughts?

This week's restaurant: Esther Tacos, 1466 Foothill Blvd. (at Grove), Upland.

A lot of taquerias are lovable dumps, while many attractive Mexican restaurants serve crummy food. Here's a storefront operation -- in the Foothill and Grove center, across Grove from Rancho Cucamonga's Red Hill BBQ -- that hits the sweet spot. The service is cheerful, the interior clean, the walls decorated in bright murals and the food inexpensive and tasty.

I've eaten there a half-dozen times. (I once mentioned them favorably in a restaurant roundup column and they posted two copies, which are still displayed, even though they only got a paragraph or two. Awwww.)

They sell breakfast plates, tacos, burritos, sopes, tortas, soups, and beer and wine. You order at the counter. The al pastor (marinated pork) is dense and smoky, in tacos (99 cents each) or in a torta ($5.99), although the torta bun was crumbly. The fish tacos ($2.49 each) are Ensenada-style, grilled rather than battered.

Seating is in oak chairs at oak tables. Brass railings top the dividers. Two walls have murals. It's a pleasant place.

And for better or worse, you're in the same center as various automotive service shops; I once killed time with lunch at Esther while getting new tires. I told the tire guy I'd be at Esther and he actually walked over to give me a report. Even at the very edge of Upland, it remains the city of gracious living.

This week's restaurant: Giuseppe's, 2433 N. Euclid Ave. (above 24th), San Antonio Heights.

Giuseppe's is a quaint place just north of the Upland border that specializes in both Persian and Italian foods. This means you might exclaim during your meal: "Mama mia, that's-a spicy kebab!"

I'd been wanting to try this restaurant for ages because of the novelty. My friends Tom and Ann, who are regulars, met me there for lunch on Wednesday. Two of us ordered koobideh kabobs and the third got the lasagna. (The takeout menu doesn't have the lunch prices but the items were under $8.)

The kabobs and rice were hearty, the lasagna cheesy. Having baskets of pita bread and French bread on the same table was slightly surreal.

Our server had earlier brought out complimentary shirazi and yogurt salads. As we were finishing our entrees, she returned with complimentary filet mignon and veggie kabobs.

I quietly asked Tom and Ann: "Do you think we're getting all this because you're regulars or does she know what I do for a living?" Ann replied: "Well, I did say we were waiting for a newspaper columnist..."

Sigh. (I try to eschew special treatment.)

Well, no matter why we got the free food, the kabobs were good, especially the flavorful filet mignon. We polished off about half when the server returned with complimentary baklava. No complaints there either.

The restaurant is in a small building, easy to miss, as you round the curve into San Antonio Heights proper. The restaurant interior is comfortable and well appointed, with a subtle Mediterranean influence -- columns at the entryways, colorful mats under the glass tabletops, muted Middle Eastern art on the walls.

Why does Giuseppe's have an Italian name but two different cuisines? The co-owner said her family, which is Iranian, took the pizza parlor over in 1997 (it was founded in the mid-'80s) and added the Middle Eastern items. Her husband used to own an Italian restaurant, however, and that part of the menu isn't an afterthought.

Wonder if you can get falafel on your pizza?

This week's restaurant: Louie's Chicken and Fish Grill, 960 N. Mountain Ave. (at Foothill), Upland.

I was driving north on Mountain Avenue one lunch hour this week, looking for Upland Kebab, which was on my list of places to try. I didn't see it this time, which means that either I missed it (both coming and going) or it's gone. But Louie's, a little farther north, was my second choice and that's where I ended up.

Louie's opened last year next to a FedEx store on the southeast corner of Mountain and Foothill. (Anyone remember what was in the Louie's space before? La Salsa comes to mind.) I learned about the restaurant from a Business story we ran last year. Owner Louie Camacho previously owned Yahoo Chicken and Louie's Chicken Cafe, both in Chino.

You order at the counter. They have rotisserie chicken ($9.95 each to go), grilled seafood, fish tacos, wraps and salads. All in all, a slightly different concept.

I got catfish, blackened, with brown rice and cole slaw as my sides ($8.49). Blackened is so often done poorly that it's gotten a bad name, but this version didn't overdo it. The slaw was moist and pleasantly crunchy.

Louie's also has trout, tilapia, white roughy, Atlantic salmon, mahi-mahi, halibut and jumbo shrimp, ranging from $7.49 to $13.95. Obviously this is not fine dining, especially with the minimal decor and fast-food seating, but the menu is a nice change from the norm. There's a patio with umbrella-shaded tables that looks like a relaxing spot -- although not on a day when it's not 95, as it was when I visited.

Louie's, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

This week's restaurant: Everest Drive-In, 430 N. Central Ave. (at Arrow Route), Upland.

Emulating its namesake, Everest rises majestically along a quiet stretch of Central near Montclair, next door to a vacant lot.

It's another of those burger palaces that has a zillion items on the menu, sort of the spiritual opposite of In-N-Out: not only a dozen styles of hamburger but pastrami and other kinds of sandwiches, basic Mexican items, salads, breakfasts, even an "old fashioned Sloppy Joe" ($2.99).

I had a burger combo there a while back with fries and a soda ($5.49). The char-broiled patty is topped with Thousand Island, lettuce, tomato and red onion. Good stuff. The fries aren't bad. One nice touch: Ketchup is on the tables in glass bottles. The restaurant interior, however, is bland, beige and uninspiring.

Not having had a chance to write about Everest at the time, I returned recently for two more meals. I got the Mediterranean chicken sandwich, again as a combo ($8.58); it comes on a wheat bun, with red and green peppers and feta cheese. A for effort, although the sandwich was better conceptually than as a physical object. Oh well. A week later, an a la carte BLT ($4.19) hit the spot for dinner.

There are other Everest locations in Altadena and La Crescenta. But if you're going to explore Everest, why travel farther than Upland?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nice to have a bit of Pasadena out in Upland.

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

Pictured: A chicken schnitzel sandwich and German potato salad.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Feel free to supply your own.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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