Regular Joe's Guide

Latest visit: Nov 2024 First visit: Apr 2019 And speaking of RJG Rotation restaurants, here's one of our last revisits for 2024. Same excellent ambiance as before as we were seated in the bar area. I went for the frozen marg and Mrs. RJG had one on the rocks. She complained to me that it wasn't that strong, and mine certainly wasn't. Doesn't make sense to skimp on the tequila, that's how you get regulars in the door! Chips were somewhat typical. They gave us two salsas, one a tomato mild and the other pretty much the same with additional chiles. Nothing too spicy unfortunately though plenty of garlic. I was in the mood for enchiladas, so I ordered the lunch special of two chicken enchiladas with rice and beans, smothered in their hot green chile. Chicken was of the dark meat variety. One major plus, like prior visits, is the dish came our smoking hot! But otherwise nothing too distinctive including a rather mild green sauce. Mrs. RJG went with the two ground beef ta...

He's back with a series of scratch off notes. If you're a sushi fan, and you're in SoCal, consider the following: There are so many sushi restaurants in Southern California!! We've tried quite a few, but we have barely scratched the surface. So far our faves are below.  Each has top notch fresh sushi, excellent rolls and delicious hand rolls as well as other yummy items.  The yellow tail and big eye tuna sushi/sashimi at each of these places are indescribably fresh and smooth.  Boss in Beverly Hills Best shushito peppers! In a pool of garlicky, soy sauce based yumminess. Kampai in Long Beach Super great prices and even better happy hour menu. Best spicy, garlic edamame. Great outside seating area. Sushi Kinoya in Long Beach Best owners: Martin & Iris! Incredible sizzling tuna. Thinly sliced yellow tail sushi laid on a sizzling platter of onions, jalapeno slices and sliced garlic. I'm not usually a fan of heated sushi dishes but this is special and the tuna rea...

Latest visit: Dec 2022 First visit: Apr 2021 Back again as promised, later than anticipated though. Remembering that the prior year's experience ended up with a (slightly) disappointing Hero, I decided on a Ham and Cheese sandwich. And that's what I got - ham and cheese. Nicely cut thin deli Virginia ham, cheddar cheese, red onion, and their "special sauce" on a ciabatta roll. And it was slightly heated up. The roll was soft and tasty, and the ingredients are likely to be Boar's Head. The special sauce I suspected would be a mustard blend, though it wasn't that obvious. More like a light mayo-mustard spread. Was it good? Absolutely. Was it distinctive and crave worthy? Nope. Sigh. I really like this place - once again the help was very friendly. But it's not cheap, definitely on the high side for the sandwich market. Unless I'm at that one thrift shop during lunch time, I'm never in the area either. I should persevere and try their Meatball or Weis...

Latest visit: Jun 2024 (South Academy) First visit: Oct 2018 (Interquest) Founded: 2010 (8th Street) Locations: 4 - 3 in Colorado Springs + 1 in Falcon. It was Juneteenth and my company fortunately gave us the day off. So what better activity then to go thriftin'! After having great success in the morning, I found myself down south again, and I was ready for an early lunch. I've never had lunch at Omelet's Etc, so let's see what they have. After sitting at the counter, I noticed everyone was still ordering breakfast. Why break the flow? I'll get breakfast then. But rather than the usual Mexican smothered burrito, I went for an American styled meal. I ordered the Meat Platter which includes two eggs (I went with fried over medium), two links of sausage, two small slabs of ham, two pieces of bacon, hash browns, and two pancakes (what I consider the dessert). And a coffee. Plus they have Irish Creme creamers as an option, hooray. All very good as expected. I'd hope...

Closed: 2025 Latest visit: Jan 2023 First visit: Oct 1994 ---1/28/23 We were recently reminded of Senor Manuel due to local food critic Matthew Schniper's excellent series known as Historical Haunts . We had both just featured Roman Villa and Luigi's. I wrote him about it and he responded in kind, which was nice (and unexpected). So on this cold Saturday it was the perfect comfort food lunch outing. There is just something special about a hearty Mexican lunch on a cold Saturday, what can I say? On this visit, Mrs. RJG and I indulged in a house margarita, something we don't do much anymore. Hey - they actually managed to put some tequila in it. Yaay. No wonder they've been around since 1970. The chips and "hot sauce" were exactly as we noted below: Very similar to Fort Worth's iconic Mexican Inn chain (which is in this blog somewhere). I stayed unimaginative and had ground beef enchiladas with the chile verde. Just as good as I remembered it. Hot to the las...

Latest visit: Apr 2024 (Parker) First visit: Apr 1995 (Denver - Havana @ Mississippi) HQ: Golden (founded: 1968 in Boulder) Locations: 29, almost all of them in the Denver metro area, with Fort Collins representing their northernmost location. They have been contracting slowly over the years. The first visit location I went to is still going strong it appears. Time for my twice annual dentist appointment, which remains up in Parker (and probably always will). As is often the case, I was on a tight timeline and didn't have the opportunity for a more leisurely lunch. Mostly this was due to a last minute change in the planned schedule and going on a Tuesday is just asking for trouble during the workweek (especially given it's a 90 minute roundtrip drive). I usually never leave the house for anything on a Tuesday for this reason. No matter as it's been a full three years since I last went to a Good Times, a place I used to frequent at least once a week in the mid 1990s. For wha...

Latest visit: Aug 2023; Feb 2023 (Mrs. RJG) First visit: Jan 2019 So they do have wine and beer! OK then, maybe more visits a year. We are now in our 15th year of this blog and Mrs. RJG has decided to get into the action! I don't think either of us went to Aroi Thai last year. She went solo on this trip. Let's see what her experience was. ---2/3/23 Mrs. RJG notes I get there around 11:00 and I’m starving for lunch. I’m craving Red Curry with Chicken. I get a hello right away from sweet young lady. I like the jazz lounge music playing in the background, unusual these days - I love it! Already a few people are eating, mainly military "hangry" men. My food arrives -  perfect portion for lunch. It's hot and creamy with my favorite vegetables and nicely cut chicken! I ordered medium hot and it was perfect - I enjoyed it a lot! Now I need to find a lady friend to enjoy Thai food with and head to the American Classics antiques afterwards. A perfect day that would be. ---...

Latest visit: Aug 2023 First visit: Jun 2020 ---1/12/23 notes Managed to get in Trivelli's review visit early this year. Arrived just before the flock from the local high school showed. This is one of many establishments the kids descend upon, so bear that in mind if you show up around 11:30 on a weekday during the school year. To avoid sitting in a makeshift high school cafeteria (and all the bad memories that go with that), I ate the sandwich in the car. Which reminded me of the pandemic as noted below. Not so bad to do that really. In this case I couldn't decide if I wanted a meatball or Italian sausage sandwich. So I got both! They have a combo that reminds me of the old Friendly's Sub Shop (see South Jersey Subs for more about that place). Not as good of course (nothing ever has been). And... they still don't toast the sub roll for whatever reason. But I do like their meatballs, sausage, and especially the sauce. Worth coming here once in a while. And as also noted...

Last visit: Mar 2021; Oct 2023 First visit: Jun 2019 We tried to revisit. It had been two years and I've been wanting to go back for some time. Mrs. RJG and I were seated promptly and then... subsequently ignored. Finally they received our beer order, only to ignore us further. After 25 minutes we left and went to the ever reliable Phantom Canyon Brewery (delicious but expensive). No one was even attempting to pour our beer, much less take our food order. That's how one gets "hangry". One wonders why a restaurant bothers to open if they refuse to serve their customers. What's clear is there was no active management on hand. I fear to say this is the end of our relationship with Colorado Craft. Typically when we see this behavior, it's not long after the restaurant closes anyway. Wait for it. ---4/7/21 review Colorado Craft had become of the RJG's favorite haunts prior to the pandemic - exactly the kind of place we love. Quality food and an extensive and un...

When I was a youngster growing up in Southern California, my Dad was the original foodie! He talked about food all day long just like we do! One thing he used to always have on his mind was a date shake from Hadley's! He took us to the desert for the date festival once and we finally got to try that elusive shake! I don't think I really appreciated the shake since I was only about 8 years old; of course what kid doesn't love a sweet milkshake but I don't think I realized the flavor of the dates. But my father left me with a wonderful memory. When we passed it on a recent trip, my eyes lit up! I had to have one! I didn't order anything else but they serve burgers and sandwiches, fries, onion rings and stuff. Looked good! If you like dates, the date shake is to die for! Dense with bits and pieces of the sugary treat, the shake was rich, creamy and so delicious! I had a medium which was plenty but left me dreaming for more. Ms. Music loved it too! - Mr. Music revi...

Kamal Palace has been open and in Long Beach for over 30 years. Highly recommended by my sweetheart and a close friend (Ms. Music), and what a find it is! The menu is fairly large and has most of the staple dishes one would expect to find at a North Indian restaurant. Even several seafood dishes. Everything we've had so far has been delightful. Aloo Gobi (potatoes & cauliflower), saag paneer (seasoned spinach with Indian cheese), mutton curry, tandoori chicken and mutton vindaloo. They serve momos (a Nepalese dumpling) and biryani too (a complex rice dish; usually mutton or chicken with layers of herbs and spices like star anise, curry & bay leaves, clove, cinnamon, chilies and a whole lot more); one of my all time favorite dishes! The portions are healthy sized too! My favorite dishes here are chicken keema (ground chicken in a spicy masala) and the amazing chicken malai (cubes of chicken swimming in a thick curry masala made with coconut cream and yogurt)! I've neve...

Many of you will remember Mr. Music - his photo still graces these pages. Even though the RJG moved from NE Tarrant to Colorado in 2018, we have of course maintained our 33 year relationship. There have been changes in his life as well - primarily there's a new Ms. Music, who lives in the Long Beach area of California. Meanwhile Mr. Music still resides near Denton, Texas. So he commutes to both. His wonderful children are growing up fast, and they will continue to be featured when applicable. We can expect reviews from both areas, plus all points in between, as he often drives the route. New reviews are coming in - so let's get them posted!