Pei Wei’s big adventure comes to an end

From Daily Bulletin columnist David Allen’s blog comes this sad news…the Rancho Cucamonga Pei Wei, their sole Inland Empire location, has closed.

While Dine 909 is heartened to hear that they are planning to open a new restauant in Chino Hills, we will miss being able to stop in while tooling around Rancho.

For those who never got a chance to experience it in Rancho, Pei Wei is a more casual offshoot of P.F. Chang’s. In addition to the typical Chinese offerings, they also have a smattering of Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese dishes.

I thought the results were not quite as successful as P.F. Chang’s, but still better than your standard Panda Express or, dare I say, Pick Up Stix.

Let’s hope this isn’t the tip of the iceberg.

Click here to read David’s post.

fresh&easy updates

The fact that Dine 909 is a huge fan of fresh&easy has already been established.

Yesterday we got news that the Loma Linda store would open in December.

Today we find out that store won’t open until January.

The map on the corporate Web site doesn’t specify a date at all yet.

Sigh.

Good news is that they are considering putting a store in Highland, but haven’t made a decision one way or the other, and they are going great gangbusters on that store off the 210 at Riverside Avenue in Rialto, which will be the closest one to me once it’s finished next year.

However, it looks like I’m destined to drive to Fontana for my fresh&easy fix for the next couple of months.

Say it isn’t so…Mimi’s Cafe in San Bernardino is closing?

They are indeed.

But only for four days.
The Hospitality Lane eatery is closing at 8 p.m. Sunday night, October 26 and will reopen at 7 a.m. on Halloween, which is Friday.
They are closing the restaurant to do a major remodel, which includes putting in a bar area. They’ve already started the process. During a recent visit, we were able to watch someone tile a wall while we dined. Dinner and a show, I guess.
So if you’re craving their famous French Market onion soup (and I highly recommend their current seasonal salad — Balsamic Chicken and Pistachio), you’d better hurry in. Otherwise you’ll have to drive out to Moreno Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Victorville, Chino, Corona or Upland to get your Mimi’s fix.
Or just wait ’til Friday.

BurritoQuest and Moe’s, take two

Dine 909 always looks forward to Fridays — well, because they’re Fridays — and because that means a new BurritoQuest!

This week Jesse B. Gill investigates Mi Tortilla in Redlands. Mi Tortilla is a small chain that’s an offshoot of Jose’s, which is a slightly larger chain. In total, there’s 11 restaurants split between the two chains.

I’ve only been to Mi Tortilla once, to their Riverside location, and I wasn’t really impressed. Of course that was before the Redlands location was a twinkle in Jose’s eye.

Click here to read Jesse’s opinion of Mi Tortilla or click here to catch up on the BurritoQuest saga.

And for those of you in the West Valley, there’s Daily Bulletin reporter Elaine Lehman’s take on Moe’s Chicken & Waffles in Fontana, which was reviewed earlier this month by Let’s Dine Out food critic Allan Borgen.

Click here to see how Lunch with ‘Lainey turned out.

Jason’s Deli is a Dine 909 favorite

Sometimes the Inland Empire is lucky enough to get something that nobody else has…a giant arrowhead on the side of a hill, for instance.

Sometimes it’s a dining experience.
Jason’s Deli is a Texas-centric chain with locations in 23 other states, including California.
Lucky for us, Jason’s sole California restaurant is in the Inland Empire, at 2555 Canyon Springs Parkway, in Riverside.

Continue reading “Jason’s Deli is a Dine 909 favorite” »

Dine 909 visitas La Perla del Mar

After reading Redlands Daily Facts reporter Jesse B. Gill’s excellent burrito adventure at La Perla del Mar in Redlands, Dine 909 was curious to try it first-hand.

So, we ditched out on the usual church breakfast and headed out to Redlands.
La Perla del Mar can be found at 1566 Orange St., at San Bernardino Avenue.

For all you old-school Dine 909ers, La Perla is in the former location of La Hacienda, which, if I can remember back that far, was pretty good in its day.
So we strolled through the courtyard and into the restaurant. A jukebox was playing Mexican tunes while Telemundo played silently on two overhead televisores.

Continue reading “Dine 909 <i>visitas</i> La Perla del Mar” »

BurritoQuest…to go

This week, Redlands Daily Facts reporter Jesse B. Gill eats a Las Brasas burrito, but not at Las Brasas.

Dine 909 is a fan of Las Brasas. The Redlands eatery is one of the better Mexican food places in town.

Jesse’s rather unorthodox review seems to agree.

At least he’s giving a “thumbs up” in the accompanying photo.

To read the whole review, click here.

To catch up on the rest of BurritoQuest ’08, click here.

Veggie Bites – Vegetarian selections in the IE

I often find that being a vegetarian is becoming less and less difficult each year due to the choices offered in area eateries. Although there are not a large variety of exclusive veggie stops in the in the 909, there is often that one thing I can have wherever I may stop. A list of menu items that are vegetarian from various restaurants that aren’t. Hopefully there is usually at least one thing we can eat when going out to lunch with friends.

Follow the jump to see the list…
Continue reading “Veggie Bites – Vegetarian selections in the IE” »

Eat, drink and help fight blood cancers

From the Redlands Daily Facts: The Redlands Underground restaurant is hosting a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society from 1 to 6 p.m. tomorrow (October 11).

Musicians will entertain, they’ll have a free food buffet thanks to of US Foods and Washington Produce and drinks courtesy of Red Bull. The kitchen will also be open for ordering off the menu.

Definitely a cause worthy of anyone’s time and money.

After the fundraiser, you might want to catch a football game.

Read the Facts’ article here.