The place is in a good location, close to a couple of major streets, the only downside is that the parking lot can get a little crowded during busy times, but you’ll usually find a spot in a minute or two.

You can find this location at 13041 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA 92780. Bronx Sandwich Co. has a few other locations throughout Orange County as well.

My favorites here are The Bronx Club, King of Queens, The Mobster, and the B.B.Q. Brisket (pictured above).

I’ve had other sandwiches and they’re all good, but these are my favorites. I have tried the salads as well, and they’re fine. But their strong offerings are the sandwiches for sure.

The fries are also delicious, I always get them well-done and they come out super crunchy. Definitely, a place to come back regularly.

This is my latest review in Google Maps, follow me there if you'd like.

The post Bronx Sandwich Company in Tustin – 2022 Review appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I know it's been a long time since I did a Burger Tour, but let's pick it up right where I left off. That would be episode 2. If you want to see the first on the burger tour, check out the American Grub review.

With all this Covid-19 stuff, I thought I'd find my footage and finish my video for the Tackle Box visit. This was amazing and still one of my favorite restaurants. I can't wait to go back to have the blackened ahi burger again.

The Tackle Box is a restaurant & bar located at SOCO & The OC Mix in Costa Mesa. If you ever saw my review about Taco Maria, it's in the same outdoor mall.

And let me just tell you that it was amazing. It's been a long time since I went, but I still remember the amazing flavor and texture of the fish sandwich.

Don't get me wrong, the Korean burger I ordered and the buffalo cauliflower were top notch as well, but the blackened ahi burger was at another level. It felt like it didn't belong at an outdoor mall and instead you would find it at a fine dining restaurant served for brunch for $32.00. 

But no, this is $16 and it's one of Brian Huskey's masterpieces. If you watch the video, you'll see that it was totally unexpected.

The post Tackle Box Review. The Burger Tour episode 2 appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Now is better than later

It was at this moment that I realized, if not now then when, if not me then who... and decided to start The Burger Tour.

I pulled to the side of the road and called upon Google to show me burger joints nearby and at the top of the list, just a third of a mile away from my location was American Grub. I quickly glanced at it, made sure it was open, swiped through a few pictures in Google reviews and I headed that way.

Old Town Tustin

Upon arriving, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in Old Town Tustin. American Grub is next to The Swinging Door, and I like going to that area but don't really get a chance to go very often.

American Grub is quaint and hip at the same time. You'll be greeted by a nice patio guarded by a couple of heaters in case the evening gets chilly and as you enter the dining room you'll be greeted with an eclectic collection of art, designs and lighting.

I really liked the bare brick interior and I loved the American flag art on the wall. Living up to its name!

TL;DR

If you want to know the skinny on the food, it was terrific, I loved the pastrami burger ($12.95) I ordered and the pineapple blonde ale by Network Brewery (24 oz $10), the garlic fries ($5.75) were good, just not amazing, in retrospect I probably would have liked the cajun fries instead.

But if you really want to appreciate the location and the meal I had, you should check out the video. Links and details are below the video.

American Grub Review - The Burger Tour

American Grub is located at 365 El Camino Real, Tustin, CA 92780 (map). Pineapple blond ale by Network Brewery in Santa Ana.

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In Southern California, if you want Vietnamese food, you go to Garden Grove, or maybe Fountain Valley. You don't go to Newport Beach, right?Well, Saigon Beach is breaking that mold. This relatively new eatery is introducing Vietnamese flavors and dishes to the area and it's getting terrific reviews.

Not that reviews are everything; I've had great food at restaurants rated less than 3 stars and conversely, I've had appalling food in restaurants rated close to 5 stars.

Saigon Beach is just a short walk, about minute or two from the Newport Beach pier on Balboa Blvd, tucked in between Rita's Italian ice (now closed) and a Kabob place, in a small spot that sits maybe 20 people.

hey have captured the essence and traditional flavors into a menu that blends fresh and edgy recipes making a nice fusion of Vietnamese cuisine and modern flavors.

You'll find dishes you expect at a Vietnamese restaurant, but they've been modernized a bit, even embracing a significant number of vegetarian options for thwant that.

The Banh Mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwiches) are amazing, as are the pork buns or bao, but the main attraction, the dish that people come here to get is their green rice with jackfruit.

It sounds weird I know but give it a try. It's amazing and for those of you that are vegans, this is for you. There are other plant based dishes as well.

Enough with me talking about this, check out the video and enjoy.

The post Saigon Beach. A New Vietnamese Eatery in Newport Beach appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

A couple of viewers and some people in Meetup have asked me why don't I get anything else besides pho when we go to our Dot Com Lunch.

But we actually try a lot of different places and dishes. Make sure you're part of the meetup if you want to join in our next meetup.

We've been to Happy Dining, and Mai Thai and a few others I haven't reviewed yet. Just join the meetup and we'll keep you posted of new events and locations. But in this day, I tried something besides the pho.

In this Dot Com Lunch video, we also talk a little bit about the minimum wage hike in California and generally just have a good meal.

My Review of the Crispy Noodles with Sea Food (Mì Xào Giòn)

This time around, I tried something besides Pho. This looked attractive and I don't recall having it in recent years. Maybe 4 or 5 years ago.

This dish is too mild for my taste, I had to add a dash of chili and a little bit more cilantro, but once I took care of that, the dish was perfect.

I would get this again if I was looking for a healthy light dish with bok choi and seafood.

And tiny little corns. It had some of those. That's a thing in some Vietnamese dishes, really.

It was nice eating some of the noodles while they were crispy and crunchy, but later on, some had been soaking in the sauce and gave them a nice bite but weren't crunchy anymore. I guess this is what you hope for with this dish.

That was a nice contrast. This dish is different. Good, but different. I'd recommend it to anybody that wants to try something new and wants to go with some seafood.

I think a couple pieces of shrimp would have made this a perfect dish, but I can't complain.

The post Pho Ba Co Review – Crispy Noodles With Seafood (Mì Xào Giòn) appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

So for our recent Dot Com Lunch and another foodie adventure, we headed to Happy Dining in Irvine.

Happy Dining serves Sichuan or Szechuan dry hot pot dishes. Dry hot pot is different than anything else.

It's not like the hot pot many people may be used to. It's prepared and served ready to eat instead of cooking it at the table and it doesn't have both. Hence the "dry" part of the name.

Check it out! As I made this video, I learned a few things about this dish and how it's made and all that. Happy Dining is next to Layer Bakery and Pho Ba Co, some of the other places where we go for our meetup.

The Sichuan dry hot pot food comes from an area in China called Sichuan, but some people say it or write it as Szechuan.

This is a very specific type of flavor and one of the key ingredients is Sichuan peppercorns or Sichuan pepper oil.

The peppercorns aren't peppercorns or peppers at all, but instead, Sichuan peppercorns consist of the pinkish-red dried outer husks of the prickly ash shrub.

The essence of the peppercorns will make your mouth tingle, or sometimes people describe the feeling as a pleasant numbness. It's really interesting, you should definitely try it if you haven't.

Chinese Hot Dry Pot at Happy Dining in Irvine

You can find Happy Dining on Facebook here, and on Yelp here.

My Review about Happy Dining.

This one is hard to review because it's so different than other styles of Asian food. And even harder when you take into account the Sichuan peppercorn oil.

The whole dish really hinges on that spiciness and the sensation that the Sichuan pepper brings to the table, no pun intended.

Overall, most of the dishes have the same seasoning so the main difference is the protein that you pick to go into your dish. You can select from options like beef tendon, pork ribs, chicken wings, lamb, catfish, and a few others.

At some point they even served bullfrog. I'm not sure why they took that off the menu, but it's no longer available.

During our visit, the service was terrific. We asked to be seated outside and that's rare, but they accommodated us without any problems.

There were only two downsides I found. One was that they don't have their lunch specials available on Saturdays when I went, the second was that the dishes have a lot of vegetables, but could use a little more meat in proportion.

On a 1-5 scale, this place deserves a high 3 or a 4. I would definitely recommend it if you like Sichuan dry hot pot or if you want to try something new.

The food comes out quickly and the chafing dish lighted gives the pot a bit of a sizzling for a few minutes. The food can definitely be spicy. I ordered "medium" and it was borderline too hot for me. I probably would have liked it a little bit milder but it was still delicious.

Try the mung bean soup also. It's really good and helps with cooling your mouth if it the food gets too spicy.

The post Sichuan Hot Dry Pot in Irvine at Happy Dining for Dot Com Lunch appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Every time I go to it, it blows my expectations out of the water. Here's a quick announcement from one of the organizers of the event, Marcie Taylor from Surfcityfamily.com

Taste of HB attracts some of the best foods from Huntington Beach and surrounding areas. You'll find tons of restaurants, craft beer & liquor, as well as some other businesses.

My favorite non-food vendor from last year was Surf City Flags. I have a video about them coming up soon, by the way so watch for that.

The festival is going on its 19th consecutive year. It is put together for the benefit of the Children's library. The event is held from noon to 4 pm, with an exclusive VIP reception from 11am-12 noon.

You can get tickets on their website, or at the library and they're worth every penny. In full disclosure, I get to cover the event as media so I'm usually invited but the value you get from that single ticket is outstanding.

At the time of this writing, early bird pricing is available and should be until March 1st.

My previous coverage of the event is here, have a look. But I warn you, some of this will make you hungry.

Taste of Huntington Beach 2018

Taste of Huntington Beach 2016

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I was a bit apprehensive about eating a pig's head at first, but after watching a recent video about The Recess Room from Food Insider, I thought it would be a good dish to try so four of us got together for an evening of indulgence.

I'll start the review as simply as I can and tell you that the whole experience was amazing, every dish we tried was fantastic and the star of the show, the pig's head was out of this world.

The Recess Room

The Recess Room self-describes their offerings as modern American tapas with homegrown ingredients from the onsite garden alongside 24 craft beers on tap with a strong emphasis on local breweries, a wine selection highlighting the California Coast, premium whiskeys, and handcrafted cocktails.

That's pretty accurate but, also humble. The Recess Room is located on Brookhurst, in an unlikely location more suitable for a fast food joint, or the neighborhood's dry cleaners.

No amount of description will express the feeling when get when you're in the place. When you first walk into the restaurant, it's similar to any hip spot in the Orange County area, but once you enter the main seating area near the bar, it all changes.

There is an inviting, soft glow pouring from the lighted bar and soft light fixtures alongside high tables. Beyond you'll find tables more suitable for a romantic dinner.

You imagine it should be in a fancy mall like Fashion Island or South Coast Plaza, but it is just in a small strip mall and actually a very underrated area. Close to the freeways and the beach, this location is easy to get to so you better make your way out there soon.

In simple words, it's a cool place. It has the comfort elements that a local neighborhood bar where you can hang out with your friends for a beer after work, but it also offers the sophistication needed to bring a date for dinner.

The food is on par with the decor and ambiance and it didn't disappoint. If I haven't made it clear yet, you have to go try The Recess Room.

Now, let's get into the food.

To start, we ordered Tom yum fries and popcorn shrimp, which I believe are only available during happy hour. The popcorn shrimp was sweet and scrumptious and as good as any that I've tried before.

The fries, on the other hand, were UH-MAzing.

I can't overstate this, these are probably the best non-traditional fries I've ever had, maybe the best fries ever. They're fries, you think, just fries, right? And they may be just fries, but they give the pig's head a run for its money and they were the best dish we tried besides the pig's head.

I hope they keep these on the menu forever. I would go back there just for the fries.

Talking to Victor Nguyen

I happen to know one of the owners so he came by to visit for a bit and brought along a slew of other appetizers that were just as good as the fries and popcorn. He also gave us a short interview, so you can see that in the video.

Victor also talked about the inspiration for the restaurant. It had been a long time dream of his and his childhood friends so they finally got together recently and opened up shop a couple years back.

They wanted the place to be a fun, inviting with a sprinkle of nostalgia back to the "good old days" of recess during school time.

This is reflected in the decor, the ceiling, for example, resembles a basketball court floor because they grew up playing ball, the food has traces of the comfort food they ate growing up and there are tons of board games up front that bring back childhood memories.

But back to the food

The smoked mushroom dish was unique, a medley of maitake, bunashimeji and oyster mushrooms mixed with lardo (a bit like pork salami/bacon) topped with crunchy almonds. A must for mushroom lovers.

We followed that with cheesy corn and a longaniza empanada, both of which were quite the elevated bar food.

And as a bit of a prologue to the pig's head, we also got the fried chicken skins which were out of the ordinary. Crunchy and flavorful, they are served with homemade ranch and powdered with a flavor that seemed so familiar but we couldn't quite put our finger on it.

Turns out when we talked to Victor Nguyen, he said that they basically reversed engineered the flavoring that comes with Maruchan noodles, yeah those cup-o-noodles that are part of every college kid's coming of age. Another little touch to make this a heaven for nostalgic comfort food.

The Kurobuta Pig's Head

After a number of beers and a round of whiskey shots with Victor, the start of the show arrived. The Pig's Head. By the way, the videos show you our whole adventure so if this the review is TL;DR for you, hit play in the next video.

Priced at $58, The pig's head is not the most extravagant item on the menu, they also serve a $110 Tomahawk steak, but the pig's head is huge.

I know it seems obvious but the pictures and videos available don't really convey how large the butcher block and the half head really are.

As soon as it arrived, the whole surrounding area became filled with a rich and delicious aroma reminiscent of freshly cooked bacon, carnitas, and chicharron. I was lucky to have the first bite and it was for lack of a better word, amazing.

The head is prepared much like carnitas, confit style. I didn't really know what that meant until I started writing this review.

I just thought that was a fancy way of saying "deep-fried," but confit, in fact, means "cooked in its own fat" so basically the pig's head is cooked slow, deep-fried in pig's fat.

The cooking method yields a super crispy skin, while the inside is soft and tender. Once it's a little bit cool to the touch, you can just cut a piece off, or rather just kind of tear a piece off, then you can eat it by making a lettuce wrap of sorts, topped with pickled daikon and carrots and cilantro, then drizzle some of the tofu-kimchi aioli or sweet-and-spicy sauce served alongside.

I think that's technically ssam style, or at least inspired from bossam. The other way you can eat it is by using wrapping the pork in the roti bread that is served with it.

Of course, you can also just take a chunk and eat it straight up. No matter which way you decide to dig in, you'll love it. We all did.

If you want to have a try at this dish, make sure you call ahead. They suggest 48-hour notice so they don't run out. You'll see a few reviews on Yelp mentioning how they ran out of it during busy nights.

When you order the dish, after it's presented you have the option of diving in hands first like we did, or they can take it to the back and separate all the meat for you and bring it back ready to eat. You decide. Obviously, the first option is the most fun, but it can be messy.

We wrapped up the night with the Fluffernutter, another decadent dish that just buttoned up the night in perfect harmony. Needless to say, this is no a place where you come concerned about your caloric intake. You come here to enjoy great drinks and amazing food inspired from what can only be described as Southern California culture.

In Conclusion

I do have to say that this wouldn't be for the squeamish. If you aren't used to seeing the less used parts of the animal served or prepared, this is probably not for you. But if you have had lechon, whether Spanish, Hawaiian, Philipino or another style, and you liked it... then this will be right up your alley.

The whole experience was unique and even though you haven't seen The Recess Room written about too much in foodie blogs, or magazines, you will soon. I'm sure of it. It's only about two years old and it is most likely only going to grow in popularity over the next few years.

If the Pig's Head doesn't attract you, the large selection of whiskeys might, along with some really creative cocktails and craft beers on tap.

All in all, I give this place a five out of five.

I only had my phone with me and like I mentioned, the place is lit softly so it was dark. My photos aren't that great, so I borrowed some of the photos from my friend John, and you can see some of the dishes they serve after our photos, directly from their Instagram.

The Recess Room Photos

[envira-gallery id="51688"]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc86xVXlpM5/?taken-by=therecessroom

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcDNZDalVES/?taken-by=therecessroom

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The Hat has been around for 65 years and there's a reason for it. Their food is fresh, it's delicious and it will not break the bank.

On my way back from Affiliate Summit, I decided to stop with my friend just before heading home. I hadn't been there for a while but I'm glad I went.

My friend ordered the pastrami dip, and I ordered the pastrami cheeseburger and we got a small order of fries. One order of fries, even small is good enough for two people, so order with caution!

They have other stuff, like onion rings, chili burgers, hot dogs and other grilled goodness but I came for the pastrami burger.

The Pastrami dip is a whole bunch of their amazing beef pastrami stuffed into a french roll and before they serve it to you, they dip the top half in au jus.

Normally when you hear French dip or roast beef dip, you get the sandwich and you dip it yourself as you eat it. But not with the pastrami dip, by far the most popular item on the menu. You can, of course, get au jus on the side and do the traditional dip and bite routine. But just know that the pastrami dip comes pre-dipped.

Now, the burger is something else. Other places have pastrami burgers, I think even one of the big fast food chains introduced their own pastrami burger a few years ago. That one isn't bad, but it certainly can't compare to the one that The Hat makes.

All the food is made to order so it will take a few minutes to cook a burger, don't expect fast food speed, but it's still made fast enough to serve it quickly and satisfy your cravings.

I went to the Lake Forest location, but there are 11 locations total. You can check out their website for all the details.

The pastrami cheeseburger comes with one all-beef patty, cheese and a motherload of pastrami all sitting on lettuce and tomato and dressed in thousand island dressing wrapped up in a classic sesame seed burger bun. It's truly a mouthwatering combination.

I was too busy salivating for my food as I waited and then I basically devoured my burger and totally forgot to record a video, and I was tired. My buddy John did make a vlog, you can watch it below.

Hopefully, the vlog and images inspire you to try this fantastic burger joint, an iconic restaurant in Orange County. Hands down, this is the best pastrami burger in Orange County.

The post The Burger Review: The Hat, World Famous Pastrami Burger appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Ugh, that's messy, and you end up having to strain your wine to avoid little pieces of dried up cork in your glass. A broken cork is a less than ideal situation. Most of the time, you can prevent a broken cork, but sometimes the cork is just old, dry or just defective and it will break even if you're careful.

But there's a better solution that will avoid the cork getting broken no matter what. That's what I've got to show you today. I'm going to show you  The Perfect Wine Opener, by Vineyard Elite.

This is my first post about it, and I probably will share more as I use it more. Especially with a trip coming up to Temecula soon and Summer just around the corner. So this is a part review and part introduction. I think I need to use it a lot more to give you a complete review, but so far it is good!

The Perfect Wine Opener comes in a gift pack or "kit." In it you'll find a foil cutter, an aerator and a cork stopper with a vacuum pump system. I don't care for the foil cutter but the other stuff is not bad, but really, the main attraction is the wine opener. You could call it an air pressure corkscrew because it works by injecting air into the bottle and popping the cork up with the air pressure. Nifty.

So check it out, I made a little video about it that will show you exactly how it works. This is the first air pressure corkscrew I ever use, and it works great. I've opened about a dozen bottles now since I got this for review. Each cork has come out intact with a satisfying "POP!" sound every time. It's fun to use, too. If you're looking for a gift for a loved one, I highly recommend you take a look at this.

You can find out more here on their site, and here's The Perfect Wine Opener video:

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Be it golf, cocktail hour, dinner parties or simply lunch. This is why we meet for lunch every week. To bring people together so that we can talk and see what we're all up to.

So this time the Dot Com Lunch meeting took place at Urban Seoul. Urban Seoul, like many of the places we frequent, is located in the Diamond Jamboree Plaza in Irvine; one of the newest outdoor shopping malls in the city.

It is a small place tucked away in plain sight. This is one of the reasons we never noticed it before. It is very easy to miss if you don't know where it is. But with that aside, once you find the place then you are in for a treat.

The reason we went there is because I've been on a Korean Taco craving mood lately. Las Fajitas near Pho Ba Co had Korean tacos for a few weeks but then they stopped serving them.

I also had some great tasting Korean tacos at Mochilato, but they took forever to come out and weren't worth the price.

The tacos you can make at home like you can see in this video are really the best because you can put whatever toppings and seasoning you want. If you know how to cook and want to spend the time doing it.

But back to Urban Seoul. Let me show you some pictures first.

[envira-gallery id="49017"]

The manager on duty was really friendly and quickly explained the menu. I had an idea about what to expect but it was nice to get a proper explanation.

If you have never had fusion cuisine, then you're missing out. This combination is Korean/Hispanic.

The pork belly is used in a lot of the dishes here and with good reason. It is unbelievable. I probably haven't had pork belly this good before, ever. And I've paid some fancy prices for pork belly. Here? It's just part of their everyday fare.

Here is why I came to Urban Seoul. Their Korean tacos. I went with the pork belly order of three. They have other choices and I really wanted to try one of each but you have to order them in sets of three unless you come in on Taco Tuesday.

They were damn good, the perfect blend of flavors with a spicy flare. Squeeze a little bit of lime and this is as close to heaven as you'll get during lunch on a Monday.

If I had to describe Urban Seoul in one word, it would be: Amazing. You gotta go try it, and now they have a second location, Urban Seoul 2.0 at the Irvine Spectrum.

The post Orange County Food Review: Urban Seoul appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Sooo good. And if you're into spicy, try the crazy feta. It's a "secret" recipe for a spicy feta cheese you can add to your bowl or salad. I didn't realize that Mediterranean food could be spicy.

Just shows what little I know.

Really, go check it out. It's one of those BYO build your own restaurants so you'll get to pick every ingredient. How can you go wrong with that?

View on Instagram

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Leoness Cellars is deeply rooted in the history of agriculture and farming in the Temecula Valley. Co-founder, Gary Winder, began farming in the valley in the early 1970’s with a focus on citrus and avocados. He founded Stage Ranch Farm Management in 1972 and quickly built a reputation in the valley for being a high-quality farming business. Gary was joined by Mike Rennie in the early 90’s and together they focused on the growth of their vineyard operations.

They founded Leoness Cellars in 2002, on a hilltop overlooking the beautiful Rolling Hills Vineyard Estate on De Portola. These 20 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon were planted in 1999 by Stage Ranch using the finest Cabernet clones and appropriate rootstocks. The grapes from these vines have been used to craft some of the most enjoyable Leoness wines. Their vast experience has led to a true understanding of growing wine grapes of the highest quality; grapes that are concentrated, balanced, and ripe which will produce wines of incredible depth and flavor.

Read more about the history of Leoness Cellars here.

Here's the Instagram teaser video:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BO_RZlEgyMu/

Did you know that Port is a title reserved for a type of wine? Like Champagne, Port is not just a name but a title of prestige. You'll hear more about it in the video. But the question is why can't everyone call their "port" wine "port"?

You'll hear more about it in the video. But the question is why can't everyone call their "port" wine "port"? Leoness calls their port-style wine Cinsaut. Some places I found say that it's a time thing where the grapes have to be over 10 years old and other sources that seem more official say that Port is reserved for the famous dessert-style wine that comes from Portugal.

Regardless, the Cinsaut ($65.00) that Leoness has to offer is amazing and we took home a couple bottles. They're gone by now.

The full vlog on Youtube is here:

Music - That Sunny Day by Kronicle under CC on Soundcloud

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And yes, they gave me a free lunch to check them out, but I still feel like their food is awesome. Healthy, locally sourced, and an amazing value.

Cava Grill is a fast-casual Greek restaurant. You order your food like you do at Chipotle and then bam! You'll be sitting there enjoying your Cava Grill bowl or salad like a boss.

Checking out Cava Grill

Cava Grill - Yelp

Cava Grill - Google Reviews

Cava Grill

View on Instagram

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Good for meat lovers, vegetarians or vegans. And only for fans of flavor.

I've written about this Mediterranean gem in the middle of Irvine. I know Southern California and especially Orange County have some of the best food in the world.

We're just lucky that way. By the way, this is not the first or only time I've written about Cava Grill, you can check out all the other posts right here under Cava Grill.

View on Instagram

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At the last minute, the kids ended up coming with me so we made the best of it and went to check out the place.

We went with the new OC Bloggers & Influencers Group, hosted by Sondra from Pretty fit foodie. If you have a social media presence or a blog in OC, you should check out the meetup. She also organized my visit to Chill at Long Beach, and the upcoming year seems like it will be fun.

The kids and I arrived earlier than we needed to, I thought it started at noon, so we had an hour to kill and we checked out other places around the small strip mall. This place, known as The Crossroads has grown up a lot in recent years, adding a lot of other great restaurants, like Stonefire Grill, Urban Plates, and Capital Noodles so I expected Cava Grill to be a good match to this new wave of awesome food.

Turns out the food at Cava is probably my new favorite out of the places I just mentioned. I loved it because it's BYO (build your own) style, in a fast casual setting, so it's really up to you to make what you like.

Unlike other BYO places I've tried, the ingredients are so fresh and well planned, that even if you don't know what you're doing, your plate will come out great.

If you're feeling like loading up on carbs, go with the grains, but if you want to stay in the lighter side then go with the greens. Or you can do a mix of both and go with the most popular choice of "grains and greens." Check out the video to see how the ordering works.

[envira-gallery id="48538"]

The food is Greek & Mediterranean inspired and there's a cool history about how the restaurant came to be on their website. So if you like things like hummus, lamb, tzatziki, then you should check it out.

But going to Cava is not just going out to eat, it's an experience. Cava Grill is not only a story of food, but of culture and friendship as well as a story of entrepreneurship and the pursuit American dream.

All food is sourced locally which is a big plus in my book, and the restaurant contributes to charitable organizations on a regular basis, isn't that nice? But at the end of the day, how does the food stack up? I thought it was amazing and I will definitely go back, with so many ingredients, the combinations you can try are literally, endless.

The full video is here, as well as photos. And tell me, doesn't it make you want to try it?

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Turns out Sol Mexican Cocina has several locations and there is one much closer to me, in Newport Beach. But this post is specifically about the one in Playa Vista (Los Angeles).

The decor was very well done, modern but traditionally Mexican with an artistic flare. It reminded me of a good Mexican bistro you'd find in Mexico city or Guadalajara. The food was also good with the exception of one item that had a strange taste, I couldn't pinpoint what was wrong with it but everybody at the table felt the same way.

The experience was great, and it's fun to be a foodie

The management took it off our bill, even though we didn't even ask for that. They just asked for comments on the food and I felt like I had to tell them because something was strange about the dish, but it was nice to see the bill came back without that. Overall, the service was excellent. Our server was attentive and pleasant, and she knew the menu well.

Management came by the table a couple times to check up on us, and I want to say that it is normal practice but I'm more inclined to think they did this because they saw we had big cameras and we were recording and taking pictures of the whole experience.

I think they wanted to see why we were taking pictures, and also be on our good side if we were going to be reviewing the place.That's smart business, they pay attention and that makes a big difference for me. I have to remember to bring my "big equipment" when I go out to eat more often. I'm always amazed at how much better service turns out when you have a camera, a small tripod and even a microphone. In this case we got a free dessert at the end to try out and comment on: the dulce de leche nachos, made out of sugary "buñuelo" type of tortillas with a sweet cream and caramel and chocolate drizzled on top.

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So is there merit to this positive review of the place?

Absolutely! Even if they hadn't taken the item off the final bill, I would still tell you to go check this place out. Especially during happy hour because their deals are great. Tacos range from $2.50 to $5.00 when they would normally be 2 or 3 times the price.

They had a live band playing some music, and that added to the upscale casual but fun environment with a wide open bar area and perfect mood lighting. It was a bit cold so we decided to stay inside but they have some nice places to eat outdoors too, I think I saw a fire pit there as well.

Here's a quick video of the whole event. Great stuff, you'll see a carnitas burrito, a couple of fish tacos, their queso fundido with chorizo and mushrooms, guacamole, corn on the cob and calamari along with some beer and margaritas. All in all, the bill came out to around 76 for 3 of us and I think we were all pleased with the whole experience.

This is also part of the 90 day video challenge, and it's video #57!

The post Happy Hour at Sol Mexican Cocina appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Happy hour at Urban Seoul.

Pork belly slider.

Photo taken at: Urban Seoul

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Also Watch the Urban Pork Belly Pozole at Urban Seoul

Also watch Visiting Urban Seoul at Diamond Jamboree Plaza:

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This was our first time there and it was really great. We had a great time. One of the highlights of the day was lunch because we found one of my favorite burger joints next to the museum.

The Counter is a burger restaurant where you can make your burger to order exactly as you want it. From the type of meat, to the size of the patty and every ingredient. They even have vegetarian options and by all accounts even the vegetarian options are awesome.

When they first opened, I went with my friend and we each got a monster burger, it was over $30 for each burger and we couldn't even finish them. But this time I was a bit more restrained and just ordered their 1 lb burger with some classic toppings. Check it out:

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Tell me that burger doesn't look appetizing? I want some right now!

Photo taken at: Wilson Creek Winery

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The post The Burger from Creekside Grill at Wilson Creek in Temecula appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Zion has these ready to go all the time in the hot shelves. Just like any food you get from the hot shelves at a supermarket, it isn't the best, but when you have a craving and don't want to go and sit at a restaurant and wait this is the next best thing. You can always count on Zion Market to have a fresh batch of these waiting for a craving tooth.

Zion also has a lot of other Asian foods and spices that my wife uses. She's Vietnamese, and the store is Korean but they carry a lot of the same spices and produce that are used in Vietnamese cuisine. They sometimes have young coconuts and if they have them at a good price, I'll pick some up since I have the Coco Jack at home to crack them open.

I really like this place so I thought I'd give you a quick glance into it. If you've never been to an Asian supermarket, you should. They're fun, they have interesting stuff and really great deals in some things like you'll see in the video.

The post Tour of Zion Market in Irvine appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

They are very easy to open if you know how and they are delicious. They are just sweet enough and don't overpower your palette.  Cactus pears are also rich in antioxidants and magnesium so they're good for you.

In this short video I show you how to open them and eat them. I wanted to tell you something that is not really in the video, many people online suggest you spit out the seeds. That's too much work! You can just eat the seeds and you'll be fine.

The fruit is very soft and you can just work your way around the seeds and swallow them, nothing bad will happen.

The post How to Open and Eat a Cactus Fruit appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I should start with the bad first as I do with most of my reviews. The only negatives I found were really minor, we went in early for brunch and noticed a lot of the areas in the business weren't actually ready for business. You could see a mop left over on a corner, the bar was mixing their ingredients on big ugly buckets on plain view, and a few other little details like this.

We don't need to see any of that, it's like walking into the backstage area of a Las Vegas show. We know all that stuff goes on in the back scene, but we just don't want to see it. It kills the magic, ya know?

That's about it for the negative... not so bad right?

Now onto the good stuff. The whole experience was great. We arrived way earlier than our friends did because they initially went to one of the other locations I think. Valet parking ($6.00)  is a must or be prepared to park a mile away, risk a parking ticket and then walk to the place. Just valet it.

As we waited, our server was really great about keeping our drinks and appetizers on point. I started with a seasonal grapefruit margarita that was excellent; refreshing, cool and balanced. I ended up having two or three through our stay. I would suggest they make it a permanent cocktail in their menu.

My wife went for the spicy bloody mary; it made me a little jealous.

For appetizers we went for the choriqueso and guacamole combo. Now, this is where it gets a bit iffy for Mexicans that know Mexican food. I don't think Choriqueso should be in the menu of a traditionally inspired Mexican cuisine restaurant. Choriqueso is Tex-mex food which you should stay away from when you want to be known for traditional Mexican flavors, regardless of how modern or progressive you want to be with your recipes.

When I saw it on the menu, it made me question the whole operation.

I would have rather tried a more traditional queso fundido. Re-invent that! But nevertheless the choriqueso had amazing flavor and it was a winner paired with the totopos made fresh on site. The guacamole was good, but not unique or amazing. It's hard to make good guacamole and harder to do it consistently, but if this is  the quality and flavor they always put forward then it's an excellent guacamole.

If you're a bit more adventurous and like strong flavors then you'll find this guacamole very plain and in need of some more acidity, and maybe even some crumbled cheese to top it and add a bit of saltiness. To their defense, it was good enough that we ordered a second order of it and everybody else really liked it and it goes really well with the super crunchy and salty chips.

For the meal, I ordered the chilaquiles with added carnitas. My wife ordered the chile relleno, and we shared the 2 gringas. Everything was good. But, there's always a but. The chilaquiles were prepared perfectly, good flavor profile, the consistency was better than most places I've tried, but they lacked a punch.

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I feel that it was a mistake to order the carnitas on the side. The carnitas felt overcooked and they had a strange syrupy taste that made them overly sweet. Some people like that, but I didn't. Traditional dishes should be re-imagined with presentation, or the use of the ingredients, but adding a totally new flavor is risky, If I had ordered a full carnitas dish I am inclined to think that I might have exchanged it for something else after trying it.

By the way, I mentioned the chips earlier but it should really be said that these were amazing. I couldn't get enough of them. The 2 gringas were amazing and in retrospect I would have liked to order just that, but more of it. The plate comes with two of these tacos and they are as tasty as they are beautiful. More please!

The best part came with dessert as three dessert dishes arrived, compliments of the chef. For this, I am absolutely thankful and grateful! I would love to tell you that my influence as a blogger made them do this, but most likely it was because one of our friends at the table is one of the up an coming Mexican chefs in Southern California. On a side note, I can't reveal his name because he wants to keep a low profile, but I hope that I'll be able to review a pop-up restaurant he's working on to launch this summer.

We tried the churro ice-cream, tres leches cake and the flan. Turns out the chef at Mercado used to be the chef at Taleo, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants of all time (sadly it clsoed years ago). So I expected his influence to be strong in the desserts.

The tres leches cake was amazing, as it was at Taleo's. The flan also was perfect, the consistency, the flavor, the presentation, a total winner. If you want to try what a flan should taste like, then the trip to Mercado is worth just for this reason. In a previous review of a local bakery, I kinda blasted their tres leches cake, the owner of that bakery owes it to themselves to visit Mercado and learn what a tres leches cake should be.

Overall, I rated this place a 4/5 on Google. I would definitely go again, I would bring my friends there and I'd love to try some of their other cocktails and dinner plates. I hear they have over 70 kinds of tequila, that can be exciting.

The post Mercado review. Mexican Brunch in Los Angeles appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

While I was there, they gave me some samples and so I decided to make a quick video about the one that attracted me the most. Sriracha Mango. This one comes in the "mixer" pack. Chobani calls them "Flip" this is where they have some yogurt on one side, and a small container with dry topping on the other side.

I'm a big fan of Sriracha sauce. It's a great sauce, sweet and spicy and friendly to most savory foods. But more and more I'm seeing Sriracha paired with sweets as well.

So when I saw this flavor on display I knew I had to try it.

So how was the Sriacha Mango yogurt?

The yogurt was great, the big chunks of mango make it really good and it tastes fresh. Anything with good tropical fruit tastes fresh right? Then the mixer part, has crunchy bits that remind me of sesame sticks, peanuts and popped rice (like rice crispies) and the whole mix has the sriracha flavor in it.

I don't think there was enough Sririacha, in fact I could hardly taste it at first. The flavor eventually kicked in  a little, but not much. You'll see my reaction in the video. The next one I had I added a dash of Sriracha powder and then it was really perfect. The combination of sriracha and mango is brilliant, they just need to step up the Sriracha level about 5x.

So here's the video of me trying it out, Thanks Chobani for the sample and feel free to send me some more to be featured! And no, this wasn't a sponsored post but I do appreciate Taste of Huntington Beach, and their sponsors, so thanks again!

The post Vlog 16 – Sriracha Mango Yogurt by Chobani Video and Review appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

The place is called Capital Noodle Bar (Yelp) and it's part of the Capital Seafood Group. I was introduced to this years ago by my wife when I first tried dim sum. You can find it at The Crossroads in Irvine, where La Salsa used to be (I think).

Capital Noodle Bar is a fast casual Asian fusion restaurant. Prices range from $4.95 on the appetizers to about $13.00 for the file mignon cubes dish. I heard that is amazing, by the way.

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When I first went I tried the Hainan Chicken and it was really good. Can't really compare it to the Hainan Chicken from Belacan Grill, but it was really good anyway. My wife ordered the Assorted Seafood Noodles $10.95 and by all accounts it was delicious.

On the second time around, I went with John and ordered something besides noodles... again. You would think that I would try a noodle dish since the place is called Capital Noodle Bar, right? Well, no.

Todays #selfie with Roselyn (sp?). Cheers!

A photo posted by Oscar Gonzalez (@notagrouch) on Feb 1, 2016 at 1:22pm PST

I felt like chicken so I ordered the Lemongrass Roasted Chicken, $11.95.  And I loved it. It was crispy but not overcooked and came with pickled vegetables, rice and a fried egg to top the rice. John went for the Canton Style Roast Duck $10.95 and he said it was great.

Claire was with me so I shared some of my rice with her and ordered the Grilled Beef Skewers $5.95. The meat was packed with flavor and it was so tender it felt like it was melting in your mouth. They were perfectI would go back just to order a whole plate of those.

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She offered to buy me lunch so I thought, why not? I help a friend and I get a free lunch.

This is not why I help people, but it is a nice perk, especially when people want to pick my brain but don't want to or can't hire me.

I thought about where to go and finally decided on a place that had been on my list for some time. It is called Taco Maria and if you had not guessed by now, it is Mexican food.

But this is not your typical Mexican food. Some people say it's the best food in Orange County, Mexican or otherwise.

This is high-end Mexican cuisine. I can only think of one other place that I've tried that would be in the same class, Red O in Newport Beach.

The flavors were authentic but new at the same time, it's hard to explain but the use of seasoning reminded me of my grandma and the amazing food I had growing up in Mexico.

At the same time, everything was new and exciting.

The Agua Chile, their version of ceviche had the tangy limey flavor and salty crunch that ceviche should have but also introduced unique ingredients like squid ink to give it an unforgettable twist. It was just spicy enough to make you say oooooh, that's nice!

When we finished it, I asked the server to leave the remaining sauce and I enjoyed it by the spoonful throughout the rest of the meal. It was that good.

To drink, I had the agua de jamaica, which is a traditional agua fresca, made with the hibiscus flower. That was too little, but I enjoyed it up to the last sip.

We went on a Tuesday so naturally, the menu was based on Tacos. The old #TacoTuesday thing was made new again.

We ended up trying the steak tacos with tocino (bacon), chile con mole, fish, and vegetarian. Every single bite was as flavorful and satisfying as the first one and I was left wanting more.

Keep in mind, these are not your mama's tacos.

Many people will scoff at the idea of paying $18 for a pair of tacos, but once you try these you will likely forget that this might be ounce per ounce one of the most expensive Mexican meals you can find in Orange County.

The only downsides to Taco Maria are the location and the limited seating. I personally loathe the OC Mix, it reeks of smugness and pretentiousness, with some places offering undeservingly expensive items like a $5.00 cookie, a $24,000 sofa, or a $6.00 8 ounce cup of coffee that takes 20 minutes to make.

But just for Taco Maria, I'll go back there, I'll put up with the crowded parking and even wait 30 to 45 minutes for a taco.

If you decide to visit I recommend you make reservations (dinner & brunch only), or go for lunch before 11:40 or after 1:30 if you don't want to wait.

Leave the little ones and the big crowds at home too, this place is best enjoyed when you can fully take in the experience and share it with a small group of 3 to 4 people, but make sure everyone is there or else you will not be seated.

The post Taco María, The Ultimate Taco Tuesday Experience appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I even posted it on Instagram. It's pretty exciting to find coconuts at that price. But I decided to make a video to show you how easy it is to open a young thai coconut. Some people call them baby coconuts; that's the same thing.

You can watch the video below, after the image.

Usually, if you can find the coconuts under $2.00 each then it's a great deal. This time we ended up buying 15 because it was such a good deal.

The way I open the coconut is really the smartest, easiest and most practical way to do it. It's the Coco Jack that does the trick really, and if you don't have one yet, then you need to get one.

This would be a great gift for the holidays coming up and even restaurants could use a few of these.

The post Easiest Way To Open a Baby (Young Thai) Coconut appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

$1.49 each? Don't mind if I get 15 of these!

#coconut #youngthaicoconut #refreshing

And these are easy to open if you get a Coco Jack, it is seriously the easiest way to open a young thai coconut. AND one of my other blogposts has a coupon discount code for any Coco Jack product.

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Helen liked it a lot more than I did. For me, the place left a little bit to be desired.

The food was good, but their happy hour prices were not very impressive. The prices for the items we ordered are closer to regular prices than what you'd expect for "happy hour."

"It was good, I'd go back. I enjoyed it. The oysters were a little small, but maybe that was the type of oyster." Said Helen.

We tried a few things:

The fish tacos, the ceviche, and the jambalaya, and the calamari along with the happy hour oysters.

The oysters were too small for my taste, and another item where the price wasn't right. 4 pieces for $8 at happy hour? Not so much. I've come to expect $1 to $1.5 oysters for happy hour and much better than these ones.

The beer, we tried Citrus California and Belgian White and both were really good.

I felt the service needs a kick in the but too, a few things took a really long time to come out when they should have been 3-minute items. Like a refill on our beers.

The one thing that was irritating the most was the so-called "ceviche." They serve this in a small bowl and it has shrimp and scallop but someone needs to let the chef know that ceviche isn't the same as a seafood cocktail which is what this was.

I'm not a chef but I've had ceviche from South America all the way up to Mexico.

The basics for ceviche are... fish or seafood cooked & seasoned with lime/lemon and it's seasoned with fresh veggies but it's clear and juicy. Tangy, a little acidic, a little salty perhaps, but never sweet and saucy like this was.

Total disappointment on that one. Call it shrimp & scallop cocktail and we are golden but ceviche... nah.

And don't give me that interpretation stuff. I can't give you a taco and call it a burger because I interpret it differently.

The food is pretty decent minus the things I mentioned but they do have about 8 big-screen TVs with all kinds of sports going on.

There is a bar area and a formal dining area as well. It reminds me of a mix between BJ's Pizza and King's Fishhouse but much more open, lively and I would say even classier than either one of them.

Overall I would rate this place at a three and a half stars with a very solid chance to go up to 4.5 once they get into the groove of things at this new location.

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The cool thing about young thai coconuts is that they are available year around. The only problem is the price. Over the summer I monitored prices and each coconut was priced between $1.59 and $4.59.

Each coconut contains about 8 - 12 ounces of water so depending on the market price of the fruit you may be better off buying coconut water from the store already.

But I haven't tried a pre-packaged coconut water drink that tastes like when you open up a coconut fresh at home. Since Coco Jack went on Shark Tank, it has become more and more popular.

Hopefully you can find young coconuts near your house at a decent price. Get a Coco Jack and you'll be set to drink fresh coconut water anytime you want.

I found a coupon that will give you a discount when you order the Coco Jack so make sure you use it for some savings. The Coco Jack discount code is: SWEETCOCO, go here to get one.

If you are going to get one, I recommend you get either the Coco Jack Pack (49) or the Coco Jack Deluxe (88)

You gotta get one, opening up coconuts with this is easy! Check it out:

If you are in Orange County, You'll find young thai coconuts almost on any Ralphs, Albertsons, Whole Foods, or any ethnic supermarkets. Asian and Latin markets tend to have the best prices too.

If you aren't in Orange County California, then look around for ethnic supermarkets and see if they carry coconuts. If you are lucky to live near fresh coconuts at the beach, then go find some and enjoy!

The post Say What? Coco Jack was on Shark Tank appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Update, I no longer endorse the Coco Jack, mostly because they broke a deal we had and never paid me the remainder of the money they owed me. It also seems like the company wasn't in good standing in many other regards. However, the links below will take you to explore alternatives that should work just as well.

The easiest way to do it. If you want to get a Coco Jack use coupon "SWEETCOCO" and save some money! You can get the Coco Jack right here, they make excellent additions to anybody's kitchen and great as gifts.

Found coconuts at the store for 1.49! That's a bargain. And to open them I use my Coco Jack... The easiest way to do it.
If you want to get one use coupon "SWEETCOCO" and save some money! Buy the Coco Jack here.

The post Found Coconuts at a Bargain, and I Open Coconuts Easily With This. appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

We have our favorite food spots nearby and we haven't wasted any time going back. This is one of my favorites. This is the in the Irvine Heritage Plaza.

Bruxie's food is unique. They offer gourmet waffle sandwiches. Their waffles are soft and fluffy and make a really interesting way of making a sandwich. If you haven't had them before, you should try them. Bruxie has six locations in Orange County so get to it!

bacon-and-eggs egg-sausage-bruxie wild-mushroom-arrugula-bruxie strawberry-malt-bruxie short-ribs-bruxie classic-california-burger-bruxie

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So I ran out of my supply of coffee at home recently so I decided to make a trip to the store and pick up some more. But I was feeling adventurous so I bought something new on the shelves.

The little cans caught my attention with the colorful design and simple presentation. This was a total impulse buy based on their design. Proof that good design and presentation generates conversions right!?

The coffee is relatively new, made by High Brew Coffee, see them at highbrew.com and it's made in Austin Texas. Their tagline is:

Not All Coffees are Created Equal

They only had three flavors where I went: Mexican vanilla, salted caramel and dark chocolate mocha. But their website shows that they have a few more.

For 8 ounces of the tasty coffee, I felt the $2.50 price was a little steep but it was really good so I can't complain. I probably would only buy them again if they were on sale.

Besides the design of the can, the other thing that caught my attention was the 60 calories label. Even for 8 ounces, that is low compared to other similar drinks. The way they achieved this is by using stevia alongside cane sugar.

Once I got home I noticed a few more things to add as brownie points to High Brew coffee. I already mentioned they're made here in USA, in Austin to be exact. Another other good point is that they use only Fair Trade Certified Coffee and they are partnered with Coffee Kids.

And last but not least, the story behind the company is cool. Two entrepreneurs that decided to sail the world after running another company for 13 years. But they just couldn't stay away from the grind of entrepreneurship. So they started High Brew Coffee.

All in all, I'm glad I picked these up and I'd recommend them to you if you want to try a low calorie, sweet coffee drink to pick you up anytime of day.

I've only tried the Salted caramel flavor (as of the time of this writing). It really tasted like a freshly made salted caramel drink you would order at your local coffee shop, but I liked that it wasn't too sweet. It was just perfect. I'm pretty sure the other two that are waiting in my fridge will be just as good.

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If you've visited my blog regularly, you know that I'm a pretty upbeat guy. I'm a glass half full kind of guy but I also owe it to you to warn you when necessary.

We should have listened to the reviews in Yelp, but sometimes those can be deceiving too! We've been to places with less than 3 stars that are amazing and inversely, we've been to places with 4.5 stars that really suck.

Well this is one where the ratings were low and even then were too high. This place I'm talking about is Super Antojitos in Tustin. 341 E 1st St, Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 832-2252.

TL;DR - Service sucks, food is subpar, prices do not match quality or service, and it is dirty. Avoid.

You may think that this place is worth trying because of the pictures below. But that's all that they're good for, eye candy. There is no substance, no value, no quality.

The only reason we were served is because we made it impossible for the waiter to ignore us any longer. Somebody from our table had to put his hand on the waiters face and almost force him to come help us. After we ordered, the food took over one hour to get to us, we ordered only tacos and guacamole.

I also ordered a michelada, a prepared beer drink and was later shocked at the price we paid for it. In the menu it shows as $6.95. Sounds reasonable right?

Here's the kicker, they charge almost $7.00 for a serving of Clamato juice, salt, spices and a chili rimmed glass. Then you pay an additional $3.00 to $5.00 for the beer! I know, buyer beware but this just felt deceptive. A michelada price should include the beer, that's like ordering a Jack and coke and paying $7 for the ice and coke, then paying another $5 for your choice of whiskey.

I am still baffled that this place is in business and remains in business. As we were finished with our dinner, we overheard one of the tables complaining about something in their food; their entire bill was comped but they were not happy. Here's their review of the place. Here's my review about Super Antojitos in Tustin.

After we paid and left, on our way out two other parties were leaving and I asked them if they had been waiting. They also left without having been greeted at all. Amazing.

Gordon Ramsey would tear them a new one if he came here. Check out the tacos:

Down to the real thing, let's talk about the food!

The tacos for taco tuesday seemed like a great value but weren't. They were very light on the ingredients. I tried all four that they offer for Taco Tuesday. I ordered two of each. Al pastor wasn't al pastor, just a burned mess of tough pork, no pineapple, no real al pastor seasoning. The steak tacos had a lot of cartilage and were unseasoned. The chicken ones were also unseasoned and it felt like the chicken was boiled and not grilled, it was probably just overcooked. The only one that were close to saving them were the carnitas tacos. The carnitas were flavorful enough, but this too sucked because like all the other tacos I got, they were cold and the tortillas were stiff.

On top of the lackluster food, later after we ate our food we noticed a high degree of uncleanliness. The servers take the chips with their bare hands, the same hands that handle cash, the menus and their dirty forehead sweat. According to somebody in our party, the bathroom was pretty nasty as well.

This was a total disappointment. I thought maybe the lack of service was because of the cinco de mayo rush but after we left I read other reviews in more detail and it seems that bad service and bad food is in fact the standard for this place.

This was one of those times where Yelp has a much higher rating than the restaurant deserves, it has 3.5 but it really should have 1.2 or 2 max. Literally, go anywhere else!

The post Super Antojitos One Place to Avoid on Taco Tuesday appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Where I grew up, in Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), fresh coconuts are a staple of everyday life. You can get one almost anywhere you look. You'll find them near the beach or at the restaurants.

But now that I live in the US, it's hard to find coconuts fresh like back at home. But there's hope. Some grocery stores now sell fresh young coconuts, and the Coco Jack will help you open them without any trouble. If you're just looking for the Coco Jack coupon, scroll to the bottom.

The Coco-Jack will let you get the coconut meat, or coconut flesh out easily. If you do it a couple times, you'll be able to get the whole thing in one motion. So awesome! And of course, you can get the water too! Check out the video to see how it works, it's quite simple.

I don't think you can find many US grown coconuts, but the Coco Jack is proudly made in the USA. You can get it here: Coco Jack.

Oh and if you decide you want to get one of these things, the Coco Jack has a discount code, use "SWEETCOCO" when you buy it and you'll get 10% off. I recommend you get the Coco Jack Pack, it has everything you need.

I got this last year for father's day and, apparently I was eating a little too much coconut. LOL. Looking back, I gained quite a bit of weight back then. Glad to be back to normal now. I still want to lose more weight, but that's for another post.

Now where's my coconut?

The post Summer is Coming, Do you Have Your Coco Jack Yet? And Coupon. appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

If you've never been then you owe it to yourself to visit and try their new menu. The experience of dining at Charlie Palmer is one of the best in the area. The service is personal and attentive; the staff really make you feel welcome without being pretentious. Special thanks to the manager, Sten who made our experience outstanding.

And the food! The food is delicious. As you can see in the video, the chef came out to greet us and even prepared a special bacon kimchi risotto dish, just for my wife; should I be concerned? j/k it was awesome. Everything was to die for and the experience is one we'll remember for years to come.

In the video you see the a NY strip with Lobster, a Rib-eye with bone marrow and a few more things. The mushrooms were perfectly seasoned, and cooked to perfectly, so succulent.

One of the things that distinguishes a top tier restaurant like Charlie Palmer from the rest is their flexibility. I usually go to there for cocktails instead of dinner and until their menu changed, they had a terrific cocktail with jalapeño infused tequila (infused in house). They no longer serve this but because I asked, they were able to make it and that just buttoned up the whole experience.

Whether you're feeling like having one of the best steaks in Orange County or want to celebrate a special event with someone, Charlie Palmer at South Coast Plaza can take care of you.

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Over time I've learned to appreciate coffee a little more and I now drink it straight black sometimes. I also developed a taste for better coffee. I have tried an espresso and cappuccino in Rome (nothing out of this world). I have tried colombian, costa rican, african and even cat poop coffee. I recon most people don't know good coffee, and like beer and wine, each person's palette is different.

But one thing that I find consistent with coffee drinkers that know their coffee is their appreciation for cold brewed coffee. I didn't know much about cold brewed coffee until about four or five years ago where I saw a blogpost teaching you how to make cold brewed coffee in your hotel room when you're traveling.

Check out the video too:

I have been trying different cold brewed concoctions ever since and most of the commercially available products aren't that great. But let me tell you about the one that I found to be nearly perfect.

It's called Diesel Brew and it's made here in Orange County. In fact it's my friend's company and after hearing all these good things about it for about a year and a half I got my hands on a few bottles of this keep me up till dawn concoction.

I expected it to be a bit rough and I was ready to add sugar to it, but to my pleasant surprise it was so smooth, it doesn't need anything. It also isn't concentrate which is nice because you open it up and it's ready to drink, no mixing, no diluting, no mess.

The bottle is also pretty cool, the bottle is a can shaped into a beer bottle but this won't get you drunk. It has a bit of a novelty just because of the awesome bottling.

I also want to commend Loren the owner for doing this. Diesel Brew is his baby, a labor of love between him and his brother. It has grown from a couple of cases every once in a while to complete distribution throughout Southern California. And like all good entrepreneurs, Loren does it all to make sure things are running smoothly. You know I love entrepreneurship. I think everyone should try it and if you have a good idea and don't like to work for "the man" or don't want to be tied to an office or 9 to 5 job then starting a business is the best way to do it.

Loren's doing it and let me tell you, he's kicking ass. At any given day, you'll find loren delivering cases of coffee to all the different places that carry this amazing drink. And if you aren't in southern California, a quick call or visit to the Diesel Brew website will set you up with a case.

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We went out and it seemed like it was so late because it was pitch black already but it's just the season. Winter is upon us. So it gets dark earlier and it's colder.

Smash burger got its name from their method of preparing the burger. It starts as a ball of meat which they smash down into the patty which is then grilled and served on an open faced sandwich.

A few things stand out about this place. It's hip and clean, it has good branding and an interesting menu but besides the presentation I wasn't that impressed.

I didn't go wrong with it at all. But that's just it, it was just a regular burger. Nothing special. It didn't have any specific flavor or anything to really remind me of this experience. I was hoping for so much more.

Maybe it's the "just opened" blues but in this price range, The Habit still reigns. Smash Burger is going to have a tough time ahead unless they step up their game. It doesn't hurt to add a little dash of salt & pepper once in a while.

I really wanted to tell you how awesome this place was and I wanted to invite you to come out with me, but I can't. The potential is there, but until their flavor gets better I suggest you get some good beef, great bread and your favorite burger veggies and you cook yourself a good burger at home.

I will come back to try this soon I'm sure, but they have a long way before I can really recommend them.

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In this episode of Dot Com Lunch, we went to Urban Seoul. If you want to join us next time, be sure to join our meetup page to receive updates!

This time we went to Urban Seoul and had a really great time. Urban Seoul is located in the Diamond Jamboree plaza in Irvine.

Korean and hispanic inspired flavors are used to create a really colorful menu of fusion dishes. The atmosphere is casual but things are made to order.

I usually open my reviews with the "bad" or the little things that bothered me, but I didn't find any this time. Everything was either amazing, or really good.

From the moment we walked in, we were greeted by the friendly staff. I believe the manager himself sat us down and went over the food to let us know what to expect.

I had heard about this place before so I knew to try the Korean Tacos. Korean tacos are one of my favorite fusion dishes; we make them at home all the time. Check it out in this video.

The place is just a little step-up from a fast-casual because at least most of the food needs to be cooked to order.

I found everything I tried was perfect. I ordered the chorizo kimchi fried rice, the pork belly tacos and the small dish of gogi quesadillas for Claire.

The drink of the day was very refreshing. A bit on the sweet side, I don't even want to know how much sugar is in there. But I wanted more.

The seating is limited because it is a small place. I guess you can sit about 30 people. We ended up seating in a long bench and we shared that with another party but there was enough room for everyone to be comfortable and not crowd on the other group.

I honestly did not expect this place to be so good. We come to Diamond Jamboree plaza almost on a weekly basis, sometimes twice a week and we always skip over this place. But after today, Urban Seoul may become a regular spot for the Dot Com Lifestyle group.

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The Kimchi Chorizo Fried Rice

The Gogi Quesadilla

The horchata syrup stuffed churro. Ironically not asian and hispanic fusion. If you think about it this is a fusion of Mexican and Mexican.

The pork belly is used in a lot of the dishes here and with good reason. It is unbelievable. I probably haven't had pork belly this good before, ever. And I've paid some fancy prices for pork belly. Here? It's just part of their every day fare.

Here is why I came to Urban Seoul. Their korean tacos. I went with the pork belly order of three. They have other choices and I really wanted to try one of each but you can only order one of each on Taco Tuesday.

They were damn good, prefect blend of flavors with a spicy kick. Squeeze a little bit of lemon and this is as close to heaven as you'll get during lunch on a Monday.

The tacos come in order of three and you can't mix and match. Unless it's Tuesday, then it's Taco tuesday and you can order one or 17 of each. That's what I would do if I go back on a Tuesday, the recognized day of tacos I'd get 17 of them.

After all was said and done, the price for this was right. The food was delicious and the atmosphere is just as you'd expect it. I am looking forward to going back soon and we have deemed this place Dot Com Lunch worthy!

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We decided to visit Marché Moderne for lunch. I've heard about it before and I was excited to try it out. Marché Moderne is tucked away in The Penthouse of South Coast Plaza.

It's on the 3rd floor near Canali and Norstrom. If you take the elevator you'll exit and the bistro will be on your left. If you come up the escalator then it's on the right.

Let me get the little things out of the way.

The service is good, but a little lacking in details. I had to ask for water no-ice maybe six different times after I got iced-water with each refill. That got really annoying after, say the 2nd time. Other spots can get away with little details like that. Places like Marché Moderne can't.

There's also something peculiar about this place. Some of the tables are split into a bench seat and chair seating. It turns out that the chairs are about 2 inches shorter than the bench AND the cushions sink all the way to the bottom of the chair. This makes it very awkward to sit. I felt like I was about to kick up my feet with a soda and watch a movie.

I'm not super tall, but I'm not short either. 5"9 and I had to bend my elbows and shoulders in a very awkward position to be comfortable. I commented about this to the waiter and he said, "oh yes, we have cushions for that."

WTF

I look around and I could tell other people were not very comfortable, one couple near us commented about this as well. Here's the thing, if you know that people tend to be uncomfortable so much so that you have a stock pile of cushions in the back to tend to this problem. you're doing something wrong. Time to replace the chairs or re-upholster them or whatever you need to do.

Not only did I feel embarrassed asking for the cushion, but c'mon when you're serving lunch dishes for $44 a pop, in one of the world class malls, you can't let little details like this sneak by you.

With that out of the way, I must tell you that the food was absolutely yummy.

Yes, I just did use that word. You can see why here. In all seriousness, the food was delicious and prepared perfectly.

The server was very nice and described us the menu additions and specials. Everything sounded amazing but all three of us opted for the Prix Fixe, dubbed the Spontané menu.

With the fixed price menu, you get one of two starters, one of two main dishes and the dessert. I got the chicken and so did John, but Marc went with the Trout that wants to be a salmon; it's halloween after all so why not.

The chicken was nothing short of amazing. It was perfectly cooked completely but still remained as moist as it should be. The wine reduction was in point and you could get a hint of the garlic. The mushrooms were cooked perfectly as well, if you do cremini incorrectly you end up with rubbery mushrooms or a mush, but not here.

Despite being a fancy restaurant, the onions and fresh greens kept some of the rustic roots of the dish. To top it off, the chicken was served with an delicious hand-rolled spaghetti. I know people make noodles by hand. I've made udon, regular flat pasta and even regular spaghetti at home with a rolling pin and a machine. But to roll it by hand and have it come out this perfect, well that's why you pay the prices you pay here.

Marc got the trout and by all comments it was also delicious. I didn't try it but it looked really good, here it is.

Doesn't that look appetizing? To finish off the meal we got the dessert. I wondered why a french bistro would be serving an italian dessert, but I went with it. Turns out it was very unique. It tasted like pana cotta nd it had the classic sweet but subtle flavor with the creamy consistency but it didn't feel like pana cotta. Call it what you will, but it a perfect way of closing down the meal.

Ended up pairing that with a cappuccino so I could finish off friday with a bang. Another perfect item, the cappuccino was done right with the right amount of foam, perfect temperature and served with rustic sugar cubes. Classy.

Overall, this place deserves a five star rating. Service was attentive, friendly and professional. The food was, beautifully prepared, seasoned and cooked to perfection and at $25.00 for the fixed price this was a bargain. I can't speak for the $30+ lunch dishes but everyone around me seemed to be enjoying their food and ambiance so it must be good.

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So smart business people noticed the demand and The Kicking Crab opened up just a couple years back. They now have at least two locations that I know of. One in Costa Mesa, on Bristol between Sunflower & Macarthur. And one at the Diamond Plaza on Jamboree and Alton in Irvine. The Irvine location is a bit small so you have to wait there as well, albeit not as long as at Boiling Crab.

But my Wife and I had a date night the other night, no baby and just us so we decided to go to it and have some cajun spicy seafood. The food you get there is messy and tasty. You can get really mild level of spiciness or go crazy for the super hot stuff. On the menu, the popular items are the crawfish, shrimp, crab and lobster. Everything else is good too, but you go there to get your hands dirty and have a beer. It just works like that.

Overall, the experience we had this night was great. We always have a good time there, the staff is friendly and the food never disappoints. Daniel was our server and he was always attentive and took great care of us. If you get the chance to try this place, I'd highly recommend it. If you think this isn't for you, for whatever reason, reconsider. Invite someone that has experienced and have them show you the ropes. Many people are pleasantly surprised when they get over the fact that you have to peel your shrimp and crawfish and your hands will get dirty. The experience is great, the flavors are amazing and it's just a fun experience.

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We ordered The Hula Pie. It sounds Hawaiian right? Well it is, apparently it originated in one of the TS restaurants, Kimo. It is a 4 - 5 inch tall pie that is served as shown on the picture. It is made of vanilla ice-cream mixed with macademia nuts. They make it on a chocolate crust (like an oreo crust) and they top it off with chocolate fudge and whipped cream. If you know me, you know I'm not much of a desert guy but this got my attention.

If you ever get the chance to try it, go for it. It's big enough to share with 2 or even three people. We didn't finish it but if you do, you'll find a nice little message written on the plate.

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The Habit is nice. Even though prices are comparable to fast food places... or even less expensive, the decor and ambiance is more upscale than your average fast food joint. They even use those buzzers like regular sit down restaurants to call you when your order is ready. That was a nice touch.

Staff was friendly and despite being in a long line I was in and out of there in about 10 minutes.

I ordered their double cheeseburger. With fries. Someone had mentioned that the patties were thin so it would be better if I got a double burger. Turns out, I thought the patties were thin like the patties for In n Out. I was really hungry so I ordered an additional patty. Making this a triple cheeseburger... Except they didn't put cheese on the third patty.

Side dishes at The Habit in #Irvine

A photo posted by Oscar Gonzalez (@notagrouch) on Apr 9, 2013 at 11:05am PDT

Just a few minutes later I was out the door with my order and an order for a friend, the original char burger with fries. My order was to go ao I headed back home to chow down.

The fact is that this is one of the best burgers I have had in a while. For this price and basically a fast food burger, The Habit's double char cheeseburger is hard to beat. I know I had an extra patty, and that just put my burger over the top. The patties are substantially bigger than In and Out's, and I really did not need to order a third patty, but it was good.

Maybe I am being a little bit unfair to my other beloved burger joints like In and Out because the flavor was totally different, but it just tasted really good. It reminded me of a really good home made burger.
The burgers normally come with lettuce, tomatoes, mayo. It was pretty perfect, but knowing me I had to get some of the sliced jalapeños and chilies they have as condiments. #Delish.

I will definitely be back soon. It was totally a great experience, tasty and at a terrific price. (I am blogging this from my phone so forgive my typos, but enjoy the pictures.)

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She's had a few cravings but mostly for normal food, or confort food. She asked me for a grilled cheese sandwich the other night. But she said she didn't want a regular one.

This is what I came up with. I then made one for myself because it looked so damn good. And it was. Feast your eyes and don't drool over your keyboard.

Ingredients:

• Bacon
• American cheese, Spicy Jack cheese and Colby Jack.
• Jalapeños
• Thin sliced bread
• You'll need a cast iron skillet. You can use something else if you don't have one. It just won't be the same.

Prep & cook:

Slice jalapeños super thin. I use a mandolin slicer; the slicing process also separates the flesh from the seeds. I've tried about 1/2 dozen of these slicers; Oxo has the best one, find it here.

Cook bacon to a perfect crisp, and put aside to drip and dry.

Heat up the bacon fat just to the point before it will start smoking and then flash fry the jalapeños. Discard the bacon grease (or save for something else, if you're into that). Wipe the iron cast grill. You should know that you never use soap on these!

I got fancy with the cheese and made a cheese weave but you can do as you wish with yours. It was convenient for me because it was like a big fat slice of cheese so it would fit perfectly. I put this aside and prepped the bread.

Turn your heat to medium or medium low.

Get your bread and warm it up on the pan, let it sit on the skillet for 30 seconds at a time on each side and keep fliping it until you start getting a very light crust on it this takes 2 to 3 minutes. Add a light coat of butter or bacon grease to the sides of the bread that will be inside of the sandwich.

Put the cheese on top of the bread as the pictures show. On one side, top with a layer of jalapeños, on the other bread, add a layer of bacon. Let each piece of toast begin to melt with the cheese and its toppings.

Close the sandwich and let the cheese continue to melt. You can add a little bit of butter to the exposed side of the sandwich. Let it grill for 1 - 2 minutes, then flip and repeat the butter application. Repeat the flipping every minute or so until you have the cheese the way you want it.

Pull it out of the fire and cut it with a sharp bread knife and voila. This is the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich.

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This was a video I shot for one of my pet projects, Orange County Reviews and some blogposts I've shared over there. There are more coming but I've been working on this site and other client work.

Chronic Tacos in Irvine is great and I highly recommend you stop by. I have a few more reviews about them and videos coming up when I've visited. Never ever been disappointed.

By the way, you can follow Chronic Tacos on Twitter here @eatchronictacos.

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