Did you guys know the Ronald Reagan Library has a pub? Nobody ever tells me these things. I recently went to Reagan’s memorial library because my boy wanted to take me there. He knows I’m a history buff and that they have a lot of things I’d like to see. What I didn’t know is that I could get lit while pretending to be president on Air Force One.
Air Force One from Nixon to Reagan
Filed under Simi Valley, Ventura County
I’ve been doing well on finding some decent sushi lately. I was out running some errands and actually just happened upon Ozekii’s. They call themselves a California style sushi restaurant, which usually means more avocado, asparagus, cucumber, and produce in general. They have a lot of different dishes and most of them are very colorful and have plenty of fish and produce. Not to mention, they are probably the nicest group of sushi makers I’ve been to in quite a while. Continue reading
Filed under Ventura, Ventura County
This is a place I’ve been wanting to try for quite a while. Lucky for me, we had a few readers who wanted to try it too. So last week, after a long day of work, I hopped in my car and cruised down PCH to Santa Monica toward an evening that can only be described as epic. Out of the three people I was meeting for dinner, I had only met one. My buddy Chris, who actually shot the pictures for this post, was in town from NYC and wanted to find out if the burgers were as good as everyone said. The other members of our group were Liisa, who is an awesome and frequent commenter on the site and Courtney, a NYC transplant who is just starting to figure out how awesome L.A. is. I was glad that EatMeCalifornia could help with that.
Father’s Office was very similar to another one of my favorite burger joints: The Apple Pan. They’re both tiny, hole-in-the-wall places, they’re both famous for their burgers and they both strive to keep things simple. Father’s Office is a little more “upscale” than The Apple Pan, but has a similar attitude when it comes to dining in their fine establishment. The Apple Pan makes you wait your turn, standing around the lone counter, but FO, once filled to capacity, forms a line outside so you can patiently wait your turn to go inside. Both places also frown on substitutions, with the Apple Pan being the more lenient. If you want something changed at Father’s Office, they’ll just turn you down.
So this place is not for the picky. What else? It’s not for big groups either. In fact, the four of us lucked out with getting our table. Courtney and I got their early and shared half of a table with two random dudes. When Liisa and Chris met us inside, the guys were just leaving so we got to snag their seats. I don’t think that’s the norm, as I spied a ton of people just hovering around waiting to slip into an open seat. If the worst thing I can say about a place is that it’s hard to get a seat, you know it must be good.
Once we were settled into our table we went to the bar and placed our orders. At FO, there are no waiters, just busboys who bring out your food and take away your empty beer glasses. Speaking of beer, FO has one of the most impressive selections of beer that you’ll find anywhere. They have about 30 beers on draft and plenty more in bottles, with their specialties being California microbrews and Belgian ales. They also have a good wine selection, which hopefully Liisa will comment on because I stuck to the beer. With so many amazing choices on tap, how could I not?
I could write a whole post on the beers I tried, but this is a food website, so I’ll give you what you want: just the facts food.
I quickly realized that nearly every single person in this place was gettin’ down on the burger. Not that I was shocked, mind you, just aware. I had heard about the unique Father’s Office burger, but until I actually took my first bite, I just figured it was all hype. It was not. Continue reading
Filed under Los Angeles Area, Santa Monica
It is absolutely, positively, seriously chilly out on the Bering Sea now. With temperatures hitting forty below, with wind chill and constant rain and snow hitting the fleet, fishing is at its absolute worst so far. Any fan of the show, of course, knows that it can go from bad to horrible in just hours. Continue reading
Filed under On TV
When it comes to marketing product Subway and Jared put a lot of cash into catchy jingles and big product pictures. When it comes down to it though, I’ve always felt this need to punch Jared in the kidney and that damn five dollar foot long song makes me want to go to the mall and trip old people. Subway has always been one of those places that are everywhere and I’m sure most of you have experienced a sandwich there. I grabbed one of their Tuscan chicken sandwiches because its being pushed to the public, but I think we can all agree that any sandwich Subway has ever promoted has been a disappointment.
My first issue with Subway is that they must not tell their employees how to construct one. I’m guessin’ the employees would much rather have you go in there and tell them exactly what you want and how to make it, rather then just say, “give me the Tuscan chicken sandwich.” This is probably they third time I’ve requested a marketed sandwich that the employee asked me a question on every part of construction. I keep saying give me the Tuscan Chicken that you advertise in the window and they keep asking me, what kind of bread, what kind of cheese, what kind of veg? Can you imagine Olive Garden having a new pasta dish and then taking you to the kitchen to tell the chef what you want in it? If it’s on the menu you should kinda know what’s in it if someone requests the exact sandwich.
Filed under Everywhere
Hey Everyone! Mikey and I hope you had as memorable a 4th of July as we did. But now, we’re back to the business at hand: bringing you good food that you might not have known existed. Occasionally, I also like to spotlight organizations that give back to the community. After all, EatMeCalifornia.com is all about the little guy. (Mikey, that wasn’t a fat joke)
As the sign on the right of this picture says, they BBQ every Saturday. The 4th of July was no exception. I’ve known about these guys for years, but am always surprised that a lot of people don’t. They are really close to where my Mom lives and on a breezy day, I swear that the delicious, smoky scent can be detected from her front door. Yesterday, I had a craving for the one thing they make that I always fall back on: the tri-tip sandwich.
For six bucks, you too can have a fist-sized portion of juicy, tender tri-tip, on a garlic roll and slathered in their own sweet barbeque sauce. It’s fantastic and the other great thing about it is that all the profits from your indulgence go back to the community.
The Elks are the third largest provider of college scholarships in the United States, behind only the federal government and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Mikey and I are all for education, especially when it seems that people nowadays are only getting dumber. (Except those of you who read our site, of course.) Continue reading
Filed under Thousand Oaks, Ventura County
Hey everyone, Mikey and I know that you’ll never read this, but we still wanted to wish you a happy 4th of July. I know that we haven’t had a review in a couple of days. It’s not because we have given up on the site. Quite the opposite, in fact. We’ve taken some time to get some really cool stuff for the upcoming week.
We do our best to post everyday, but we are only two men. Two men who eat a lot of awesome food. But still, two men. In honor of this great American holiday and the 70th aniversary of Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech, we’ve decided to take the day and grill it up, old school, on our new bbq. Here’s the first of many awesome burgers to come off this bad boy:
Hopefully, you and yours are gettin’ down on something similar. If not, just swing on by and we’ll cook you up some deliciousness, no questions asked. We really appreciate all the encouragement that you give. You are truly the one’s who keep our appetites hearty and our opinions salty.
Coming up this week, you’ll read about one of the best burgers in all of L.A. You’ll also read about a bbq that gives all of their profits back to the community andhappens to make a damn good tri tip sandwich too and finally, Mikey will be in full effect with a brand new Deadliest Catch review and a new addition to our Fast Food Frauds series.
Keep comin’ back. It only gets better from here.
Happy 4th of July from Brian and Mikey.
Filed under Everywhere
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