January 2012 Archives

The Let's Dine Out Show's Grub Club events are traditionally special meals served at a local restaurant.

Next month's event is a break from tradition.

The February 26 Grub Club is in partnership with the American Culinary Federation Southern California Inland Empire Chefs & Cooks Association and will take place at the Riverside Culinary Academy.

The evening will feature a six-course meal designed and prepared by five of the Inland Empire's premiere chefs.

If you're interested in this unique experience, you better hurry.

About two-thirds three-fourths of the reservations for the $25 meal have already been filled.

Click here to see the menu and to register for the dinner.

Update: The event is now sold out! I hope you were able to register it did.

A big Dine 909 shout out goes to Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour server Michael Boles!

Fontana resident Ron Herman had gone to the newly-opened restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga to celebrate his 60th birthday.

Unfortunately, just after his food arrived, Herman suffered a seizure and stopped breathing.

Boles, a former U.S. Navy medic, heard a commotion in the restaurant.

Boles rushed over to Herman and (assisted by an off-duty paramedic) performed CPR, saving Herman's life.

Rancho Cucamonga reporter (and Dine 909 contributor) Wendy Leung captured the scene during a recent reunion between Boles and Herman.

You can read her report here.

Inland Empire original Baker's Drive-Thru, whose generosity with deals is well known to followers of this blog, is ramping up its campaign to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

Today (January 30), the chain is offering a 32-ounce Coke (or any other fountain beverage) for just 60¢, with a coupon.

The usual restrictions apply: One coupon per person or per car. Valid today only. You can either print the coupon or show it on your mobile device.

Be sure to follow Baker's Drive-Thru on Facebook to catch all its deals, not just the ones we happen to spot.

There's no Facebook event page for this deal, so click here for the coupon.

Baker's Drive-Thru locations can be found throughout the Inland Empire.

Thanks to our friends over at [Desi]gn Cakes & Cupcakes for alerting us via Twitter of this:

For all you Palm Springs Food Truck Festival fencesitters out there, this deal should push you over the edge.

For the next day and a half, you can get two tickets (general admission or V.I.P) to the festival for the price of one via Groupon.

That's a savings of either $10 (general admission) or $40 (V.I.P.).

The event takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday (February 4) at the Spa Resort Casino, 401 E. Amado Road.

V.I.P. ticketholders get early admission (10 a.m.), free water and soda, participation in a meet-and-greet with some of the truck operators and entry into drawings for a Las Vegas weekend.

The festival is being curated by Cliff Young, host of KVCR-TV's Out To Eat, who has lined up 58 trucks (so far) for the event.

This is going to be a big event!

Click here to purchase the deal.

Follow the jump to see which trucks (including I.E.-based Stella Pierre's Gourmet Grub, Where's The Fire? Gourmet Pizza, Suite 106 Cupcakery and E & E Pel's) are scheduled to participate.

Well, according to this post from Rancho Cucamonga reporter (and Dine 909 contributor) Wendy Leung, the long-gestating Victoria Gardens restaurant/bar will finally open mid-March...or so.

Wendy sent this tweet earlier today:

Just got off phone with manager of @TobyKeithsUSA . Said construction 80% done, looking for mid-March soft opening.

-- Wendy Leung (@RanchoNow) January 27, 2012

This will probably be small consolation to those folks who were hired in a job fair way back at the beginning of December.

Click here to read Wendy's post over on RC Now.

Today's LA.com Deal of the Day is $20 for $40 worth of food at Cafe Sevilla in Long Beach.

Not to worry, though.

The deal is also good at the chain's Inland Empire location in Riverside.

Click here for all the details.

TGIF!

As expected, Baker's Drive-Thru has posted its third coupon this week on its Facebook page.

Today's coupon is for a free combination burrito.

As usual, you can print it out or display it on your mobile device. One coupon per person or per car per visit. The coupon is valid today (January 27) only.

There's no Facebook event page created, so click here for the coupon.

Thanks again to Baker's Drive-Thru for its generosity! Baker's restaurants can be found throughout the Inland Empire.

Mentone's Jacinto Farms, which sells fresh produce grown within a four-mile radius, will open an auxiliary location in Redlands tomorrow (January 27).

The 1,200-square-foot stand, in a former gas station at 1269 Brookside Ave., will open at 9 a.m., then will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. beginning Monday (January 30).

The Jacinto family has been growing in the area since the 1920s.

The original Jacinto Farms stand is at 2108 Mentone Blvd.

Redlands Daily Facts reporter Kristina Hernandez has written about the new location. You can read her story here.

Restaurant owners and managers: This message is for you!

If you want to help in the effort to end childhood hunger in America, now is the time to act.

Share Our Strength is currently signing up restaurants for its annual Dine Out For No Kid Hungry event, which will take place this year from September 16-22.

Chains with Inland Empire locations which participated in last year's campaign include Denny's, Dave & Busters, Joe's Crab Shack, Togo's, Sizzler, Elephant Bar Restaurant, Cinnabon, Corner Bakery Cafe, Boston Market and P.F. Chang's China Bistro.

Not to name names, but I'm thinking there's quite a few Inland Empire-based chains and independent eatieries which might want to think about joining the campaign this year.

There are many levels of participation, from donating a percentage of sales, to having a special menu promotion to creating donation cards.

If you are interested in participating, click here to fill in the form. For more information about the Dine Out For No Kid Hungry campaign, click here.

Dine 909 thanks you in advance!

Some things go completely unnoticed here at Dine 909, until someone waves them in front of us.

Such was the case of the Sonic Southern California winter deals. It wasn't until Rancho Cucamonga reporter (and Dine 909 contributor) Wendy Leung retweeted this yesterday:

Sonic Burger is just 99 cents on this wonderful TUESDAY! twitter.com/Sonic_Rancho/s...

-- Sonic Drive-In (@Sonic_Rancho) January 24, 2012

That was our first indication that Sonic Drive-Ins were currently running any kind of promotion.

Unfortunately, we also found out that it ends next week.

Follow the jump to see the daily deals.

Today Baker's Drive-Thru has posted a coupon for its second giveaway of the week (the chain has announced a third freebie for Friday) for its Facebook fans (and other), this time for a spicy rolled quesadilla.

Dine 909 approves.

Click here for the Facebook event page for the giveaway. As usual, you can print it out or display it on your mobile device. One coupon per person or per car per visit. The coupon is valid today (January 25) only.

Thanks to Baker's Drive-Thru for being an Inland Empire original and for its generosity! Baker's restaurants can be found throughout the Inland Empire.

Planning a party for that big football game that's coming up on February 5?

Going to have lots of people over for the big game?

Then you might be interested in Chipotle's Super Bowl deal.

Oh, wait. The term "Super Bowl" is a copyright of the NFL and cannot be used in conjunction with any advertising not associated with the NFL.

Chipotle is skirting the copyright issue by promoting it as the Super Big Internationally Televised Professional Football Bowl Game deal.

It's a pretty good deal: You can order anywhere from 6 to 100 burritos and receive half off your order.

In case you missed last Wednesday's Taco Burger giveaway at Baker's Drive-Thru (as did we), it's back again today (January 23)!

As with their umpteen previous freebies, you can either print the coupon or display it on your mobile device.

You can find the coupon here.

Baker's Drive-Thru restaurants can be found throughout the Inland Empire.

Chili dog lovers! This weekend is your last chance to get in on Wienerschnitzel's 99¢ chili dog anytime deal.

The final day is Sunday (January 22).

A moment of silence, please.

Wienerschnitzel restaurants can be found throughout the Inland Empire.

In case you haven't noticed that little icon over to the right, Dine 909 is now on Foursquare!

You can follow us and find out where we've been eating.

Right now, we're on page 508 of 514 pages in popularity, but you have the power to change that.

To keep up with us, all you need to do is go here and click the "Follow Dine 909" button.

Strolling through the Internet recently I stumbled upon this coupon.

Thought I might share it with you all.

You're welcome.

Jack in the Box restaurants can be found throughout the Inland Empire.

It seems as though there's been a flurry of activity on the Inland Empire restaurant scene lately.

Reporter Wendy Leung has documented the changes happening in Rancho Cucamonga.

Highland's In-N-Out and San Bernardino's Five Guys are finally under construction, while a decades-old Burger King has given up the ghost.

Chino will see one Hawaiian restaurant replaced with another.

Back in Highland, Dairy Queen has moved out of its longtime digs at 27224 Base Line and is nearly ready to move into its new digs at 26897 Base Line, about a block away and across the street.

In Redlands, Buffet Star has moved into the spot that was vacated by Canton Bistro at 9980 Alabama Street, Suite A.

In Montclair, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin columnist David Allen reports that the Central Avenue Long John Silvers has been shuttered.

My Delight Cupcakery has long championed food trucks (especially now that the bakery has one of its own), including them in its Social Sunday events.

This Tuesday night (January 24), the bakery is bringing both Grill 'Em All and Auntie's Fry Bread Tornado Potato to town for a fundraising event.

Next week's Tuesday Night Bites will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. at My Delight Cupcakery, 1520 N. Mountain Ave., Ontario.

Proceeds will benefit a pair of local charities, McKinley Childrens Center and Boys Republic.

Hope to see you there!

Update from My Delight: Boys Republic would appreciate donations of any cooking or baking supplies for their culinary program.

McKinley Children's Center are specifically requesting undergarments for the kids and teenagers that live on campus ESPECIALLY MEN'S SIZE BOXERS (small-xxl), as well as low cut socks, hygiene Items, school supplies and games like Dominoes, Uno, etc.

For those who want to help but don't have time to shop, both organizations are always in need of cash donations as well.

Representatives from both organizations will be available on Tuesday to answer questions and receive donations.

There's been a bit of a marketing blitz from Shakey's Pizza Parlor lately.

I keep seeing and hearing ads for the $6.99-for-a-limited-time Bunch of Lunch everywhere.

Shakey's is even giving away a Bunch of Lunch every day through February 26.

If you want a chance to graze your way through unlimited pizza and Mojos, all you have to do is click here to enter.

A few notes: You gotta be 18 to enter. One entry per email address. Filling in the entry form also enrolls you in Shakey's E-Club. See the entry page for complete rules.

Shakey's Pizza Parlors can be found throughout the Inland Empire, including Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Upland, Montclair, Chino, Riverside, Temecula and Palm Springs.

Well, that didn't take long.

Following the closure at the end of the year of all but three eateries operated by HMS Host at the Ontario Mills food court (and those three were slated to close in April), a new lineup is already in place.

We've previously mentioned that Kelly's Cajun Grill will return, as well as a newly-remodeled Panda Express, which was not operated by HMS Host. We've also let you know about two new restaurants, Charley's Grilled Subs and Chicken Connection.

Today we received word that Sbarro and Burger King will remain beyond April following remodeling (sorry Bruegger's Bagels fans), and will be joined by Stone Oven Gourmet Sandwiches and Salads, Sarku Japan and, perhaps best of all, Chipotle Mexican Grill.

That means that there will be five brand-new restaurants and four newly-remodeled favorites.

That's in addition to the standalone Wetzel's Pretzels and Häagen-Dazs, which also are not operated by HMS Host.

It's been a while since Panda Express gave anything away.

The chain is gearing up for the Chinese New Year celebration with the return of Firecracker Chicken Breast, which is available for a limited time.

Facebook fans can get a coupon for a free single serving of Firecracker Chicken Breast on Monday (January 23), the first day of the 15-day long celebration. No purchase is necessary.

In addition to the coupon for the free entrée, coupons for a free entree with a two-entrée plate and 10% off your purchase, both valid Tuesday (January 24) through February 14, are included.

Click here for the coupons.

Panda Express locations can be found throughout the Inland Empire.

As it has done in the past, Chick-fil-A is giving away breakfast entrées next week to anyone who registers online.

Reservations are being taken now for January 24 through 28. The free breakfast entrée offer is limited to Southern California; greater Tampa Bay, Fla.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Knoxville, Tenn.; and metro Charlotte, N.C.

To reserve your free breakfast entrée, simply head to the Chick-fil-A for Breakfast website, select a nearby restaurant, then an available day and time, and finally, which entrée you want.

Reservation times are in hour increments from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Available entrées:

• Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit
• Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Biscuit
• Sausage Biscuit
• 3-count Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Minis
• Chicken, Egg & Cheese on Sunflower Multigrain Bagel
  
• Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit
• Chicken Breakfast Burrito
  
• Sausage Breakfast Burrito
  
• Multigrain Oatmeal

I signed up during the last couple of go-rounds, although I believe I got a substitute entrée last time (the Redlands location had run out of bagels). Free is always good.

Reservations are still available for all Inland Empire locations, with Murrieta leading the pack with only 359 reservations left.

Participating Inland Empire Chick-fil-A restaurants are Redlands, Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Ontario, Corona, Riverside, Murrieta and Temecula.

The Inland Valley will see three major food truck festivals before summer even begins.

We've already mentioned the Palm Springs Food Truck Festival, being curated by Cliff Young, host of KVCR-TV's Out to Eat show.

That event is gathering steam and new trucks daily, with Inland Empire-based Where's the Fire Pizza truck, along with India Jones Chow Truck, Frysmith, Piaggio on Wheels, the Vizzi Truck and Waffles de Liege among the 36 announced participants.

The event is being held February 4 at the Spa Resort Casino. General admission tickets are $10.

The first Inland Valley event will take place a couple of weeks later, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. February 18 at Cable Airport in Upland.

The UHRB Food Truck Frenzy is a fundraiser for the Upland Highland Regiment Band. Tickets are $5.

Details are still a little sparse, but a flier announces a Dale Bros. Brewery beer garden and 21 "subject to change" trucks, including Don Chow Tacos, the Lime truck, the Bun Truck and Meet n' Potatoes.

It seems like we've been discussing the pending Highland In-N-Out Burger forever, but it's only been a little over two years.

The bone of contention at one point seemed to be signage (or lack thereof), since the location was not in the center next to the 210 Freeway, but in the center next to the center next to the 210 Freeway.

Eventually, the site got sold to the owners of the center next to the 210 Freeway, so a freeway-adjacent sign could be posted and everyone lived happily ever after.

Two years later, construction finally began on the restaurant, and it's been going great gangbusters, with an expected opening in March.

The Highland In-N-Out is at 28009 Greenspot Road.

Tomorrow (January 14) is National Pastrami Day...are you ready to celebrate?

Togo's certainly is.

Earlier this week, the sandwich chain kicked off its "Pastrami Pounder Challenge."

Through February 21, if you can down an entire family-size pastrami sandwich in 30 minutes or less, Togo's will give you a commemorative Togo's T-shirt.

Be warned: The Pastrami Pounder is two feet long and contains over a pound of pastrami.

If you're successful, you'll receive a certificate stating you conquered the Pastrami Pounder Challenge and a voucher for a limited edition T-shirt.

Winners will also have their picture taken, which will be proudly displayed on Togo's Facebook page.

Also on Togo's Facebook page, through February 21, you can enter to win free sandwiches for a year.

Togo's has locations scattered throughout the Inland Empire, including San Bernardino, Redlands, Upland, Chino Hills, Fontana, Corona, Temecula and Palm Desert.

We all know how Loma Linda feels about McDonald's, but how will food trucks affect their "Blue Zone" status?

We'll find out tomorrow (January 14) as Spreen Honda hosts three food trucks: Rancho Cucamonga's Suite 106 Cupcakery, Me So Hungry and Coolhaus.

The event will take place from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the auto dealership, 25050 Redlands Blvd.

Something tells me that cupcakes and ice cream sandwiches aren't so good for the "Blue Zone"...

It seems that there's a rash of restaurant closings and openings these days.

Another casualty is Chino's Honolulu Harry's, which at one time also had a location in Corona.

Kealoha's Taste of the Islands and Mai Tai Lounge, owned by former Honolulu Harry's manager Preston Kealoha, is set to open this month.

Kealoha's is at 12206 Central Ave.

With all the restaurants coming and going in Rancho Cucamonga, it's hard to keep track. Good thing it's not just "going," there are businesses coming, too.

First the sad news. Joey's BBQ on Foothill Boulevard closed last week. Its Upland, Pomona and Chino locations are unaffected. Robin's Dono, a Japanese restaurant on Fourth Street across from Ontario Mills, has also closed.

Here's some good news. Alberto's will take over Joey's BBQ spot. Alberto's is a chain of taquerias with more than 40 locations in Southern California. Cuban restaurant Flamingo Palms is leaving its tiny Archibald Avenue location and moving to the more prominent Fourth Street, in a space where Camille's used to be. Flamingo Palms will be on Archibald for another month. It was mentioned in this space recently that Handel's, the popular ice-cream joint in Upland, is opening another shop on Haven Avenue at the Vons center near the 210 Freeway. Handel's is expected to open mid-February or March. Finally Felipe's on Archibald and Foothill has closed. Stevie Dee's Diner is expected to take over.

Am I missing anything? 

* Hermosa Beach opening today
  Mountain View opening today
  Brentwood opening today
* Burbank opening Jan. 18
  Santee opening Jan. 18
* Laguna Niguel opening Feb. 1
  San Francisco opening Feb. 1
  Torrance opening Feb. 8
  San Luis Obispo opening Feb. 8
  Granada Hills opening Feb. 8
* Los Angeles (Figueroa Street and Jefferson Boulevard) opening Feb. 15

* denotes smaller, "Express" stores

After about three and a half years in business, Redlands craft brewery Hangar 24 has graduated from "microbrewery" to "regional craft brewery" by breaking the 15,000-barrel production mark on Dec. 31.

Also, last night, the Redlands Planning Commission unanimously approved a conditional use permit that would allow the craft brewery to construct a 4,596-square-foot addition.

Hangar 24 will also be releasing four new seasonal beers in 2012 and six beers that will be part of their "local field series," which will use ingredients from Southern California businesses.

The folks over at the Redlands Daily Facts have been keeping us apprised on all the changes going on over at Hangar 24. Click here to read Kristina Hernandez' article on the new classification. For more on the Planning Commission's decision, click here to read Molly Davis' report.

Hangar 24 Craft Brewery is at 1710 Sessums Drive in Redlands.

It seems like only yesterday I was driving by the empty lot in Eastvale where a new Corky's Kitchen & Bakery was to be built. Actually, it was a little over ten months ago.

I drove by again on Friday and discovered that the 24-hour restaurant was open!

Then, I spotted on the Corky's website that a fourth Inland Empire location is planned for Corona, at 3811 Bedford Canyon Road, Suites A8-A11.

The Eastvale Corky's, which joins locations in Rialto and Rancho Cucamonga, is at 12552 Limonite Ave, Suite 130.

There's also a non-I.E. location in Ladera Ranch.

New tenants have already been announced for the mostly-vacant Ontario Mills food court.

Kelly's Cajun Grill will return, as will a previously-mentioned Panda Express, which is currently being remodeled and is expected to open at the end of February.

New to the food court will be Charley's Grilled Subs and Chicken Connection.

All but three of the food court tenants operated by HMS Host ceased operations on December 31 last year. The remaining three (Sbarro's, Burger King and Bruegger's Bagels) will close in April.

Nearly five years after Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market first opened in the U.S., the British-owned grocer is temporarily closing 12 stores.

The Hemet and south Ontario stores are among 12 under-performing markets scheduled to temporarily close in coming weeks. The company hopes to reopen when economic conditions improve. Seven stores in California -- Ontario, Hemet, Anaheim, Fountain Valley, Bakersfield, Baldwin Park and Fresno -- are scheduled to shutter. One in Las Vegas and four in Phoenix are also expected to close.

Owned by British retail giant Tesco, Fresh and Easy entered the U.S. market in 2007, when traditional supermarkets were struggling and laying off workers.

Pining for a little food truck action?

Willing to take a drive out to the desert?

Then mark your calendar for Saturday, February 4.

That's when the Palm Springs Food Truck Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Spa Resort and Casino, 401 E. Amado Road.

The event is being created and curated by Cliff Young, host of KVCR's Out to Eat show.

Cliff is planning to book over 40 trucks to the event. He's already got an impressive truck lineup in place, including the Ludo Truck, Calbi, Crepes Bonaparte, the White Rabbit truck and the Border Grill truck.

V.I.P. tickets are $40 (plus a $1.99 service fee) and include 10 a.m. early admission, two "free food" vouchers, free water and soda, a post-festival meet and greet mixer with the food truck vendors, and entry into a drawing for a free weekend in Las Vegas.

General admission tickets are $10 (plus a $1.24 service fee).

Tickets are available online by clicking here.

For updates and more information, visit the event's website, Facebook page or follow on Twitter.

In case you missed today's front page article in the Daily Bulletin, tonight (January 7) is the last night of operations at Christophe's Restaurant and Lounge in downtown Upland.

The space is not expected to be vacant long. Sartaj Singh, owner of Antonino's Italian Restaurant and Haandi in Rancho Cucamonga, has plans to open a Californian infused Italian restaurant at that location.

Christophe's is at 296 N. 2nd Ave.

Click here to read Sandra Emerson's report on the restaurant's closing.

A new small brewery, I & I Brewing, will open tomorrow in Chino.

For now, the brewery's tasting hours will be from 4 to 9 p.m. Fridays and from 1 to 9 p.m. Saturdays.

That's it.

You can also visit the tasting room by appointment.

Inaugural beers are:

• Peach Wheat Ale
• Belgian Cranberry Wheat
• Double IPA
• Session IPA
• Pekoe Tea Pale Ale
• Amber Ale

Don't know about you, but that Belgian Cranberry Wheat is calling my name!

I & I Brewing is at 14175 Telephone Ave., Unit J.

For more information, visit the brewery's website, blog, Twitter feed or Facebook page.

Update: Business reporter Andrew Edwards has profiled I & I. You can read his article here.

This quickie from the Chino American Legion:

Chino American Legion Post 299 at 13759 Central Ave., Chino, hosts breakfast every Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon and taco lunch every Tuesday from 11 a.m to 2. p.m.

Open to the public so come and support your veterans.

Information: 909-628-2080.

So there you have it. Feel free to stop by Sunday morning or Tuesday at noontime and help support local veterans.