Regular Joe's Guide

Latest visit: Oct 2000 First visit: Nov 1995 One of the goals of the Regular Joe's Guide is to introduce you, the reader, to some of the better "local" dining options across the USA. And while we have a strong focus on the Dallas-Ft.Worth area (and, hopefully soon, much more of Denver), Mr. RJG likes to brag about places he finds during his travels. Many are unknown, and that's maybe the most exciting aspect - the "discovery". But as with any pursuit one embarks on (music, books, movies, locales, etc..), some of the best things are very much "known". Such is the case with The Original Pantry, a landmark in the Los Angeles downtown area since 1924. Places like the Original Pantry used to dominate the American dining experience. A basic hash house, that served breakfast 24 hours a day, along with lunch and dinner staples such as hamburgers and pot roast. It's a familiar story: After World War II, many families began to move out to the then new ...

First visit: Apr 2008 One of the great pleasures of traveling to Southern Cal is the proliferation of Persian restaurants, something that is almost extinct in the DFW area (there's only one in Richardson that I'm aware of, and I'll do a writeup soon). I'm talking pure Persian restaurants, not "Middle Eastern", "Pan Arabian" or, perhaps even less descriptive, "Mediterranean". For one thing, Persians aren't Arabs, and that's just the sort of thing that sets off neighborhood disturbances. And just in case your history is a little light, Persian refers to the modern country of Iran, which has its own connotations, right, wrong or indifferent. By all rights, Persian food should be the ideal Regular Joe's kinda food. We're talking meats, saffron rice and veggies - and the latter is optional. Shish Kabob is what most folks know, and it's a combination of various meats and veggies. But there are plenty of other Kabob's wh...

Closed: 2023 First visit: Apr 2008 Mrs. RJG and I decided to spend this year's anniversary in the LA / Orange County area (early April). It had been many years since we last visited, and if nothing else, we knew the food would be to our liking. Prior to me meeting Mrs. RJG, she had lived a couple of years in the LA area in the mid 1990s. She had recalled fondly of earlier times her sister and brother-in-law would head to San Pedro to go to the beach and eat seafood. Now Mrs. RJG hardly has what one would call an eidetic memory, so she had no idea what restaurants were her favorites, but was rather certain that if we drove there, she'd remember. NOPE. As a backup plan, I had researched some finer dining options, while keeping my eye on the Regular Joe's Guide theme. Neither Mrs. RJG or I enjoy ostentatious displays of grandeur. But we didn't want to celebrate our anniversary night in a dive either. And for that, The Whale & Ale was a nearly perfect compromise. Defi...