Although this place is focused on custom burgers with an assemble-it-yourself side of the menu devoted to creating any combination you want, there are also quite a few other choices. We decided to try the combination ahi and ceviche bowl and one of the flatbreads featuring buffalo chicken and blue cheese crumbles. Both of them were excellent. The space is large and bustling but is nice when the roll-up doors are open into the outside. Service was pleasant.
I was pleasantly surprised by this place. I attended a reunion here with 30-40 guests held in the outside patio area. The servers did an amazing job of keeping up with drink orders and dining orders from individuals as we milled around and eventually sat down to eat. How they kept everyone straight and presented everyone with the correct checks at the end of the meal is beyond me.
The menu tends to be an upscale version of a sports bar menu with a large selection of appetizers and burgers, but also a surprising variety of salads and other dishes. I had the miso Asian salad, which was fantastic, very refreshing and light. Yet a large enough serving to be satisfying.
They also have an extensive selection of beers, including some dark ones that are my favorites. All in all, an excellent experience.
I have mixed feelings about this restaurant. On the one hand, it’s a brilliant concept and it has been very professionally done. On the other hand, about half of the food was not very good.
The themed interior decor is fantastic and will delight families, especially with kids who are fascinated by construction projects or equipment. The menu is one of the best conceived I’ve seen. It’s themed, attractive, and offers pretty much any kind of dish family or sports bar enthusiast could be looking for.
We started with the baked potato skins. The problem here is that they aren’t really baked potato skins. They’re essentially half potatoes with some sort of a cream cheese filling underneath the top more conventional presumably cheddar cheese and I guess bacon bits in there somewhere. They just weren’t potato skins.
For my main course, I had the very reasonably priced classic Cobb salad. It had all the correct ingredients for a Cobb salad, but there was nothing classic about it. As it was just a pile of lettuce with stuff on it. A classic Cobb salad would be served in the traditional rows of ingredients where you can dip and choose amongst them as you wish. But it was fine.
My wife had the chicken tenders, which were served with fries. The tenders were quite good, actually the best thing that we had. They had a delicate and very crisp fine-grained breading on the outside. The fries on the other hand were some of the worst fries I’ve ever been served. They were a huge mound served underneath the chicken. They were only about half cooked and it didn’t seem like the oil had been hot enough. They were heavy, limp, and large, although voluminous.
I don’t want to discourage you from trying this restaurant because I think they’ve put a lot into it, and it has true potential. If the food lives up to the descriptions on the menu and the pictures on the menu, it could be really good. Perhaps we went when the second-string team was on at lunchtime, and we should try it again in the evening. Great concept though.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-construction-zone-restaurant-kissimmee
I’ve been trying to get into n/naka on every visit I’ve made to LA for the last 10 years. So it was gratifying to finally be able to snag a reservation this time.
The restaurant did not disappoint. It is clearly one of the best in Los Angeles. Everything from the vibe to the quality of the food to the friendliness of the servers was exceptional.
With a meal this wonderful, it’s difficult to name a favorite course, but I would have to say that the pasta dish surprisingly was right up there with the very best that I’ve had.
Of course, the fish quality, the sushi, the sashimi were all also wonderful.
The other thing that sticks in my memory was the quality of all of the soups from the first little taste during the amuse-bouche to the final course. Each one brought a complexity that you rarely find in a supposedly simple bowl of soup.
If you can get into n/naka, I highly recommend it.
At the upper end of fine dining restaurants are places that transcend simply serving astonishing food and create an entire environment for enjoying it. Vespertine is one of those places.
From the moment you lay eyes on the dramatic, custom-designed building, you know you’re in for something special. Here, the journey is part of the story, beginning with a tour of the kitchen on the third floor, descending to the dining room on the second, and finally ending your visit in a dessert lounge at ground level.
It’s easy to defend Vespertine as the finest restaurant in Los Angeles. For me, it is among the top in the country, ranking up there with Single Thread in Healdsburg and the original version of Eleven Madison in New York City. It exists at that ideal Michelin two-star level where chefs are not afraid to take risks, and the service has not yet become a regimented, stiff, and formal process that renders a place soulless. On the contrary, the service at Vespertine is embracing, informative, and fun.
And the food! Of course that’s what it’s all about, and Vespertine does not disappoint. The emphasis here is on hidden layers, often found at the bottoms of exotically assembled bowls. It’s hard to total the number of courses because several of them are served in stages or comprised of multiple components. But nearly everything was a home run. The strengths relate to the incorporations of vegetables, fruits, exotic herbs, and especially flowers. There’s nothing wrong with the proteins either. A spring lamb is glorious. The quail also superb. The kinmedai perhaps the only miss.
But for me, the meal revolves around the obsidian mirror. The dish defies description, both visually and on the palate. Its iridescent texture is unlike anything I’ve ever consumed, and although the entire dish is probably comprised of less than one tablespoon, it should be appreciated in a dozen or more tiny little bites where every element of flavor and texture can be savored. I simply can’t explain it any further. You must experience it.
Often I find wine pairings to be comprised of sommelier favorites that are high acid, obscure, and not necessarily wines that could be enjoyed on their own, even if they do happen to match the food they are served with. None of these are problems at Vespertine. The Vinifera pairing consists of mostly old-world wines of high pedigree that superbly match their courses and are each notable wines standing on their own. The more expensive Optivus pairing swapped out three wines for bigger names. While all three replacements were fine wines, I’m not sure whether the additional cost is justified as the Vinifera pairing was quite stellar on its own.
At $295 pp plus wine pairing Vespertine is not inexpensive, but for the quality of the food, the experience, and the wine, I think the price is well justified and compares well with the other great dining experiences in the country and the world. It’s certainly in my top five, worldwide.
It’s been over forty years since I last went to Carmine’s! On that occasion, Carmine was still the chef, and we ran into Charlton Heston at the table next to us. I’m happy to say that the place hasn’t changed much. Carmine has passed, but successive generations have kept the place much the same as it always was, from menu to ambiance.
I particularly like the approach to the menu where you can select your pasta and then the preparation for that pasta. This approach extends to entrées where you select your protein and then the preparation for that protein. Perhaps it’s the engineer in me, but I really like this straightforward way to assemble exactly the meal you’d like.
We started with Caesar salad and an iceberg wedge. Both were perfectly classic in preparation and portion size.
For entrees, we had the unique Chicken Savoy, served with a somewhat tangy red wine vinegar sauce, and a seafood stew. Both of them were also very good.
We finished with tiramisu, which was good but not the best I’ve ever had. I prefer mine with a bit more booze and the lady fingers on the bottom.
There’s a small but thoughtful selection of wines by the glass, and an extensive list of Italian reds available by the bottle.
Service was very friendly, and the overall environment was very welcoming. It’s great to see a place that knows what’s made it successful for so many years continuing on with the tradition.
We were in port for the day and it was too far to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant in LA (El Cholo) so we went to Maria’s and we were not disappointed. The fiesta platter was a great start, but the real standout was the cheese enchilada’s. The rich, slightly bitter sauce was absolutely perfect. This is the way enchiladas have been service in Southern California since the 1920s, and it’s wonderful to see the tradition carried on here. Service was so very nice and friendly. We’ll definitely return if we are in the area.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/marias-mexican-restaurant-rancho-palos-verdes
What a delight this place is! Orlando so needed a classy place to enjoy good music, food, and drinks. Everything about this place is just about perfect. It reminds me a lot of Herb Alpert’s Vibrato restaurant in LA.: same chill vibe, great acoustics, and reasonable live music volume levels. The Tuesday night we went there was a solo guitarist who was excellent.
The menu is tapas style, with lots of shareable items, and only a couple of larger plates. We really liked the three types of hummus–who would have imagined carrot and sriracha could be so good! The chicken empanadas were also good, ruth a really crispy crust. The charcuterie was fine, but a bit more like a supermarket assortment than a high end offering.
There’s a nice assortment of wines, and almost all are available by the glass or bottle. The cocktail list is also good, although I went off-menu and had an excellent dirty martini made with Aviation Gin.
Service by Dulce was friendly and attentive. This is definitely a place we’ll put on our regular dining list.
Nice selection of beers on tap, particularly if you’re into IPAs and lighter styles. Not too much for us porter and stout lovers, but I did really like the non-alcoholic FLVR porter I had from a can.
The Everything Pretzel was a nice twist on a standard. Chicken wings are straightforward— simply deep fried, I had mine with the Sticky Korean sauce, which was good.
Chicken Ceasar Salad wrap was also good. Service was friendly.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/celebration-brewing-company-celebration
Another beautiful restaurant from Chef Henry Moso. As with his two Kabooki locations, this one really shows off his design sensibilities, and emphasis on wonderful fish quality.
This Mosonori, like its sister restaurant in Winter Park, focuses on hand rolls. The majority of service is a t a counter, where each hand roll is prepared as you are ready for it, assuring the nori is crisp and still slightly warm. About a dozen types are available, plus a few sashimi options.
Beverages include sake and beer.
Service is friendly and knowledgeable.