July 2010 Archives

Tomorrow (August 1) is Dave's Day at Famous Dave's.

If your name is Dave, David or Davy, you'll get a free entrée worth up to $15.

If your middle name is one of those, you'll get half off your entrée, up to $7.50.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Larry David, however, is out of luck, since the barbecue restaurant isn't offering anything for last names.

Both Inland Empire Famous Dave's locations (in Rancho Cucamonga and Redlands) are participating in the Dave's Day promotion.

Click here for more information.

Another day, another food holiday! This time it's lasagna.

If you haven't yet made dinner plans tonight, you might want to think about heading over to the sole Inland Empire Buca di Beppo at 505 W. Foothill Blvd. in Claremont, where you can get a free lunch-sized portion of lasagna when you purchase any Buca Small or Buca Large pasta or entrée.

Details? The offer is only good on dine-in orders, but the free lasagna may be boxed and taken home by dine-in guests.

Last year, Buca di Beppo gave away 18,000 pounds of lasagna, the equivalent of nine Fiats.

Thatsa lotsa pasta!

High Desert Dine 909ers, be prepared to loosen your belt a notch!

Buffet restaurant Golden Corral, which at one time had locations in Riverside and Temecula, is making another foray into the Inland Empire with a new location in Hesperia.

The new restaurant will be at 12845 Main Street, just west of the 15 and next to the Super Target.

Golden Corral will have some pretty tough competition with the excellent Wood Grill Buffet just down the street, but from what I've heard, Golden Corral is pretty good, too.

The restaurant is scheduled to open in early September.

As I was driving to get blood work done this morning, something caught my eye as I zipped past the Highland Avenue off-ramp of the 210...a Wienerschnitzel sign!

Of course I had to stop on my way back to work and check it out.

Turns out that the building that I was 90% sure was destined to be a Starbucks is going to be turning out double chili cheeseburgers and Freezees as a Wienerschnitzel/Tastee Freez combo.

The place was swarming with construction workers, but it looked about 80% complete from the outside.

It's at 2565 E. Highland Ave., just east of the westbound 210 Highland Avenue off-ramp, behind the combo Taco Bell/Pizza Hut.

And I could've sworn it was gonna be a Starbucks!

Update: According to this tweet via their Facebook page, the grand opening is this weekend, and the first 100 people in line will get a free chili dog. Whoo-hoo!

Another update: The official press release finally arrived in the Dine 909 inbox today. The grand opening is Sunday (August 1). Good news for night owls: The restaurant will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. daily.

How much would you be willing to part with for a free pint of Baskin-Robbins ice cream?

How about a pint of your blood?

LifeStream is offering donors a coupon good for a pint of Baskin-Robbins ice-cream in exchange for a life-saving pint of their blood.

The "Pint for a Pint" offer is good through August 21 at all LifeStream donor centers and mobile drives.

To make an appointment, call 800-879-4484, or visit LifeStream's website.

The locations of mobile drives can be found on LifeStream's website and on their Facebook page.

Just don't go to Baskin-Robbins expecting to get a pint of Superfudge Truffle.

The Sun newspaper photographer LaFonzo Carter headed out to the Polycot release party on Sunday out at Hangar 24 Craft Brewery in Redlands and took a few photos.

He's posted them here.

Oh, and there's one other photo, posted by a certain blogger, who also made it to the Polycot release party.

Readers of the newspaper edition of Dine 909 have already been tipped off on this one, but National Cheesecake Day is Friday (July 30).

The Cheesecake Factory will be offering half-price slices any of their cheesecakes.

However, if you're on Facebook, you can become their Facebook fan and get a $1.50 slice of cheesecake on Thursday (July 29), their "preview day."

Now comes the tough part...you've only got a couple of days to decide which cheesecake you want to order. That Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake looks really tempting, and as a bonus, 25¢ will go to Feeding America, of which Second Harvest Food Bank, which provides services here in the Inland Empire, is a part!

For more information on Cheesecake Factory's National Cheesecake Day half-price deal, click here. To become their Facebook fan for the $1.50 deal, click here.

Inland Empire Cheesecake Factory locations are in Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside and Rancho Mirage.

Baskin-Robbins is celebrating its 65th anniversary by "retiring" five flavors, including French Vanilla, one of the first flavors launched by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins way back in 1945.

Wow.

The four other flavors being sent to the "deep freeze" are:

• Caramel Praline Cheesecake, from 1970
• Campfire S'mores, from 1975
• Apple Pie a La Mode, from 1976
• Superfudge Truffle, from 2007

The retiring flavors are available while supplies last.

Obviously, it's the announcement that French Vanilla is being retired that is giving some people conniptions.

Delicious irony, indeed!

The day that columnist John Weeks chose to write about an upcoming Slow Food event happens to be National Junk Food Day.

So, tonight we dine on Chocodiles and Cheetos, for on Monday we will feast on locally-grown vegetable tamales and local summer fruit poached with cinnamon lime syrup.

Click here to read John's column.

Redlands' Hangar 24 Craft Brewery is almost ready to unleash this year's batch of Polycot, their wheat beer brewed with locally-grown organic apricots.

They're tapping the first keg on Sunday (July 25) and hosting a release party from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the brewery, 1710 Sessums Drive.

99 Ranch, the Asian supermarket stalwart, is planning to open at the end of the year on the southeast corner of Archibald and Base Line in Rancho Cucamonga. 99 Ranch (or is it 99 Rancho?) will be catty-corner to the 99 Cents store.

The grocery store will replace Albertson's, which closed April 2009. It will be the second 99 Ranch in the Inland Empire. The other one is in Chino Hills.

In one of the more unique fundraisers I've seen in a while, the Big Bear Lake Village Business Association will be hosting its second Wine Walk on from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday (July 24) in the downtown Big Bear Lake Village shopping district.

The event combines shopping and wine tasting as you stumble wander from store to store. Two great things that, um, go great together?

The association is expecting up to 500 locals and visitors to attend the fundraiser.

The acclaimed Fork Chops House (née The Three Forks Chop House), which has been closed due to a kitchen fire in December 2008, will not be reopening in its Claremont Packing House location.

Co-owner Mark Bollinger said the restaurant didn't have enough money to reopen because its insurance company refused to pay business interruption fees.

Redlands-based Eureka!Burger is scheduled to move into the space at 580 W. First St. in late fall or early winter.

Click here to read Wes Woods II's report from the Daily Bulletin.

Bad news! None of them are in the Inland Empire.

Not Loma Linda. Not Frederick Street and Cottonwood Avenue in Moreno Valley. Not Van Buren Boulevard and Colorado Avenue in Riverside. Not Beaumont. Not Menifee. Not Mira Loma. Not Lake Elsinore. Not that second Rialto store that seems to have mysteriously vanished from fresh & easy's locator map.

However, if you are reading this (it is on the Internet, after all) and live near Sylmar, Rosemead, Oxnard, Signal Hill, Fresno, Clovis, San Diego or Oceanside, you can click here to apply for one of more than 180 job openings.

The Sylmar store will be the neighborhood market's 100th in California. It seems like it wasn't so long ago that fresh & easy opened their 100th store overall.

The new stores are scheduled to open in September.

No, I don't mean whiskers on kittens. I'm referring to my favorite restaurant items from the Inland Empire. Most of them are exclusive to the area. A few you can get elsewhere. All of them I find delicious.

So, here they are in no particular order. I'll limit my list to ten.

• Camarones al mojo de ajo from La Costa, 464 S. Mount Vernon Ave., San Bernardino. I've been a longtime fan of La Costa. The food is just like homemade, and reasonably priced. The service is always friendly. They specialize in seafood, and their garlic shrimp is among the best I've ever had. Flavorful, succulent and loaded with garlic. Honorable mention: Juancho's, 2802 S. Milliken Ave., Ontario, also makes a mean camarones al mojo de ajo.

• Orange tangerine chicken from Happy Wok, 1639 N. Mountain Ave., Upland. Out of all the fast-food Chinese places I've been to, this is far and away the best take on orange chicken. It's sweet and hot, crispy and sticky...everything you want in an orange chicken. And, although you'll be picking out bits of rind, not overbearingly orangey, which is probably why I like it so much. Happy Wok moved years ago from their location on Mountain near the 10 to one closer to the 210, but the food (and the generous portions) haven't changed. You'll also find Happy Wok in Chino and Rowland Heights.

• Rolled chicken tacos from El Burrito Drive In, 920 N. Mount Vernon Ave. (at Colton Avenue), Colton. I had been craving these beauties for about a month before I actually made the time to drive down there last week. They were everything I remember. A mélange of chicken and spices stuffed into a corn tortilla, which is folded over and deep fried. Then, of course, smothered in a creamy, chunky guacamole. Messy, but good. Sometimes I feel like I've been going to El Burrito nearly all my life. Probably because I have. There's also an El Burrito in Redlands.

• Angel hair pasta with olive oil and garlic from Alfredo's Pizza and Pasta, 251 W. Base Line, San Bernardino. Yes, you do detect a trend. I like garlic. This simple pasta is just one of the many things Alfredo's does right. The dinners at Alfredo's are so huge, I always have enough for lunch the next day, and pasta just seems so much better if it's been sitting in sauce overnight. If I'm looking for something a little healthier, I order the pasta primavera, which is the same thing with vegetables.

• All-you-can-eat sushi from Miyagi Sushi, 228 E. Base Line. Just a few blocks down from Alfredo's is where you'll find what is the best sushi experience I've found in the whole of the I.E. It's always a party at Miyagi's, and the sushi is always fresh and delicious. You're guaranteed to leave Miyagi's with a full belly and a smile on your face. And that's not just from the sake.

Sunday is July 11, aka 7/11 aka National Slurpee Day!

That means you can schlep on down to your local 7-Eleven and grab a 7.11-ounce Slurpee frozen beverage for free, while supplies last.

In addition, two lucky stores here in the Inland Empire have been designated as "Summer Slurpee Stop Stores" (say that seven times fast!) and will be having special deals from 7 to 11 a.m. on Sunday.

During those hours, at 7-Eleven stores in Chino Hills (15450 Fairfield Ranch Road, at Central Avenue) and Pomona (2055 N. Towne Ave.), you'll be able to get the following deals:

• 50¢ Small Bite hot dogs
• 50¢ ½-liter 7-Select spring water
• 50¢ 7-Select single-serve chips
• 50¢ 12-ounce coffee
• Free 7-Select fruit samples

July 11 is the day that 7-Eleven traditionally celebrates its anniversary. This year, they're celebrating their 83rd year in business. Oh, thank heaven!

Congratulations are in order for Ramon Cano of Pomona and Saul Sifuentes of Fontana. Both are El Pollo Loco employees who placed second and fifth, respectively, in the restaurant's recent Grill Master Challenge.

Both are first-time participants who beat out more than 1,000 cooks from over 400 restaurants to be one of six finalists.

Cano and Sifuentes were winners in the company's 16th annual event held June 16 in Los Angeles.

If you want to taste the award winning results for yourself, Cano cooks at the El Pollo Loco at 72 Rio Rancho Road in Pomona, while Sifuentes is at the El Pollo Loco at 1663 S. Riverside Ave. in Rialto.

Click here to read the complete story by business reporter Rebecca U. Cho.

Don't have a ton of information on this one, but the new Yucaipa Dairy Queen/Orange Julius at 12045 Fifth St. (at Yucaipa Boulevard) is opening tomorrow (July 9).

They're having a grand opening from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday (July 10).

Also, ice cream cakes will be half-price the first week they're open.

Ah. Just in time for the summer heat!

For updates, check their Facebook page.

Well, I guess that's all you really need to know.

So I went to Ontario International Airport on Monday to pick up a friend who was returning from a weekend in Las Vegas.

We had talked earlier about going to lunch at either Ontario Mills or Victoria Gardens after I picked him up. I suggested going to Paisano's in Victoria Gardens, since I haven't had a chance to visit them since they relocated there from their north Fontana location earlier this year.

Turns out that was an excellent choice.

With the move and all, it's probably been about a year since I'd been to Paisano's.

The food doesn't seem to have changed at all, and that's a very good thing.

Our thanks to reader Lauren who tipped us off via email just a few hours ago to let us know that the Coca-Cola Freestyle has arrived in the Inland Empire!

The 100-plus beverage dispenser is now in place at the Boston Market, 10890 Foothill Blvd. (at Spruce Avenue), Rancho Cucamonga.

And for those of you along the I.E.'s western edge, according to the Freestyle Facebook page, there's also one at the Boston Market in San Dimas, at 957 Arrow Highway, just west of the 57.

I believe I'll be heading to Boston Market very soon.

Thanks, Lauren!

My Big Fat Greek Dinner only consisted of a salad, but oh, what a salad it was!

I ordered a falafel salad, which consisted of greens, thin-sliced cucumber, onion, tomato, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, oregano and, of course, sliced falafel. It came with a delicious, but not overpowering, lemony Greek dressing and lemon slices. It was also accompanied by a pepperocini and some warm pita bread slices.

It was the most flavorful salad I've had in a very long time.

My dining companion had a pastrami sandwich that was big enough for two meals, and we split an order of house-made onion rings.

Everything was delicious, and the customer service was fantastic.

Even though it was our first time there, Nick and company made us feel like we were longtime customers.

Of course, Dine 909 has company in enjoying the food at the Fat Greek. Sometimes it takes us a while to get with the program, though.

Unfortunately, we were too full to try one of the delicious-looking desserts. Perhaps next time, which I'm sure will be very soon.

The Fat Greek is at 33265 Yucaipa Blvd. in Yucaipa. Their website contains a wealth of information, including a full menu (exactly the same as in the restaurant), coupons and a mouth-watering photo gallery.