by | July 29, 2009 · 10:48 pm

Bondi – Australian for BBQ

by Brian

I recently got the opportunity to check out a nice little BBQ place in Venice.  My buddy Jason told me about Bondi BBQ and graciously offered to help me eat their food last weekend.  I also got the chance to meet his awesome fiance, Angelica, and I must say that as far as girls go, she’s pretty rad.

Bondi BBQ – On Windward Ave. right by the beach in Venice

Bondi BBQ

Because this place came so highly recommended, I had high expectations going into the meal.  This was also my first trip to Venice as an adult, so I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect.  Turns out that it’s pretty much the same as it was when I was a kid, with plenty of awesome people watching to be had.

The restaurant, itself, is not very impressive.  It’s pretty much all bench seating and the tables you see out front are where we ended up eating.  The weather is usually pretty good down there, so sitting outside is a great option because it can get a little stuffy inside.  They also have a back patio, but when we sat down back there, to look at the menus, we quickly noticed that there were way too many flies hovering around to risk eating there.  I really hope they get that sorted out, because if it were a little cleaner, it would have been a nice place to enjoy the meal.

We ended up ordering a combo meal called the Tail Gator, which included one pound of tri-tip, one BBQ chicken, a full rack of ribs, two sides and two loaves of garlic bread.  The total, with soft drinks and tax, came out to about 90 bucks.  So it’s obviously not super cheap, but considering the amount of food we got, I thought it was fair.  They say that the Tail Gator serves 3-5 people, but I think you’re probably stretching it a bit to feed 5. Continue reading →

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by | July 28, 2009 · 11:06 pm

Deadliest Catch – Shipwrecked

by Mikey

It’s the Season Finale. Yes, boys and girls, this is it!

We’ve reached the end of opi season and almost everyone has come in safely. A few boats remain out on the Bering and one still has a quota to meet.  A huge arctic storm is on top of them and the coast guard has just called out pon-pon-pon which is notification of an emergency, but one that is not as severe as a mayday.  A ship sinking is a mayday; a ship stuck on the beach is a pon-pon-pon.  In this case, a ship is stuck on the rocks and a coast guard copter is on its way.

Shipwrecked

It’s 24 hours before the final off-load and a cod fishing vessel is stuck up on the rocks.  The coast guard is communicating successfully with the ship and attempts to lower the rescue basket.  The winds go from 70 knots to 120 and the turbulence is just too great to get the crew off from the ship.

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Continue reading →

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by | July 26, 2009 · 9:07 pm

The Latigo Kid – A Pre Canyon Club Tradition

by Brian

We do a lot of Mexican food reviews on this site.  So many that I’m kinda getting tired of Mexican food.  I ate at the Latigo Kid over a week a go, but just didn’t really feel like writing it up, mostly because we’ve had better reviews that needed to be posted.  Still, it’s only fair that I give this place their shot at EatMeCalifornia infamy.  Plus it’s great material for a lazy Sunday evening.

The Latigo Kid – Next to the Canyon Club, Kanan exit off the 101 freeway.

So, I had never been to this place before.  But I had always seen tons of people coming out if it before making their way next door to party at Canyon Club.  For those of you who don’t know, Canyon Club is the best place to catch all of your favorite 80s bands that have no business still touring, yet continue to do so anyway.  They also have a great 80s coverband called the Spazmatics, that performs every Thursday night.  If you go on a Thursday, you’re guaranteed to have a good time.  But this isn’t a review of the Canyon Club, so I’ll leave it at that.

The Latigo Kid is a decent sized place, despite the fact that it looks tiny from the parking lot.  The decor is your standard Mexican restaurant fare, except the fact that they have some cool murals painted on the walls.  The vibe is pretty low-key and not as raucous as Los Toros in Chatsworth. Continue reading →

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by | July 25, 2009 · 7:57 pm

JD’s Does BBQ and Breakfast too

by Mikey

This is an EatmeCalifornia first.  B and I went back to a place we already reviewed to try out their breakfast.  Many of the places we’ve been to have been places that do both breakfast and dinner, but because JD’s BBQ was good, and had a very old school, just like your grandparents used to make, kinda thing goin’ on we thought their breakfast would be something good to try.  After all, how many other places do grits like they are supposed to be done?

JD’s BBQ – In Oxnard at Patterson and Wooley

JD’s only does breakfast on the weekends.  So if you wanna try it out, don’t show up in the middle of the week or you’ll be waitin’ awhile.  Check out our review of JD’s to get a feel for the place. I’m just going to go over our breakfast.

They have a very simple breakfast menu.  There are waffles, a large country breakfast, the breakfast burrito and a few others. Brian went with the chicken and waffles, which for anyone who lives around Ventura, it gives us a chance to get chicken and waffles without having to drive so far south.  I went with the big country breakfast because where I come from you go big or you go slightly smaller and then people make fun of you. “Look at the big guy with the cute little breakfast.  He’s pretending he’s not huge”. Continue reading →

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by | July 24, 2009 · 6:05 pm

Dominick’s Italian Restaurant

by Mikey

B and I wanted to get in on some Italian food so we headed to Dominick’s in Oxnard.  They have been in business for quite a long time and have always been a great place to take the family for some great Italian food.  After what has seemed like weeks of BBQ, Mexican, and Sushi I was definitely looking forward to it.

Dominick’s – Oxnard off of Oxnard Blvd

Dom’s is one of those places that you have to keep a sharp eye out for.  They are right up against Oxnard Blvd and have no front parking.  You need to take a side street and attack it from the rear.  It’s a good sized place.  It’s just got horrible parking. You almost feel like you’re parking to make a drug deal.  You park where you can, even if it’s next to a dumpster or light pole.  I’ve been to Dom’s a few times now and never had any issues, but then again I always seem to go in the daytime before the chupacabras come out to play.  I’m sure it’s perfectly safe.  It’s also just a block from Wins, which is a great place for Tacos.

Everyone is really nice, from server, to busser, to management, they treat you like you’re back at home, minus the chonies on the lamp shade and the loud neighbor who only plays Motley Crue songs.  Like I said before, the place is pretty big and they can easily cater to large parties.

They give you fresh bread when you sit down and get you any drinks or appetizers very quickly.  The only bad part about their seating is that all the windows give you a fantastic view of the fabulous Oxnard Blvd.  Unless you like traffic, train tracks and sides of buildings, there is no pressing need to rush to get a window seat.

B went with the Chicken parm with minestrone soup and I went with the Manicotti with a side of meatballs thrown on top. We also ordered fried zucchini to get a feel for their appetizers. Continue reading →

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by | July 23, 2009 · 10:35 pm

Pizza Port – Suds by the Sea

by Brian

Mikey and I took a run down San Diego way a while back and were looking for another great place to review.  Luckily, this time I did a little thinkin’ ahead and called my friend Talia, to pick her brain about where I could find some delicious pizza.  She let me know that Pizza Port was, hands down, the best pizza in all of San Diego.  And with a recommendation like that, how could we not go check it out?

Some of you might have noticed that it’s been a while since we did our last pizza review.  The reason for that isn’t the fact that we started hating pizza, but instead that Mikey and I have been struggling to find places that live up to our rigid standards.  Pizza is the only thing on the site that we rate (a la Zagat) and, so far, we’ve yet to have a pizza crack 80 on our 100 point scale. (Otherwise known as the Pizza Measuring System or PMS)  Our last pizza was the highest scoring yet and it only managed a 76.

Is there a new Godfather in our pizza mafia?  Keep reading to find out… Continue reading →

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by | July 22, 2009 · 11:10 pm

Mama Rita’s Revenge

by Brian

So tonight, I was totally planning on doing a review on this Mexican restaurant that I went to last week.  But to be honest, it wasn’t that great and I was lacking the inspiration necessary to feign interest in the place.  Therefore, on a whim, I chose to make my triumphant return to Mama Rita’s in Newbury Park.

For those of you who haven’t read the Kitchen Nightmares debacle, check it out now before you jump into my post tonight.

mamas sign

So I wanted to originally go back to Mama Rita’s with the crew that we took to the Kitchen Nightmares shoot.  But conflicting schedules, plus the fact that Michelle had a baby in the interim (congrats, btw!), made it a luxury that I just couldn’t afford.  I walked into the place at around 7:45pm and was greeted warmly by the owner’s mother.  She offered me a table, but since I was all alone, I opted to saddle up to the bar. Continue reading →

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