Tag Archives: Take-out

Burrito Loco

by Mikey

Yeah, I know I’ve been posting alot of burrito and Mexican food places.  A while back, I asked people to give me some good places and I’ve been working off my list.  This is actually the last small, hole in the wall, Mexican food place I had on the list and I gotta say it was a horrible way to finish it off.  I’m going to have to find some more hole in the walls just to remove this one. But I’m not bitter…..

Burrito Loco – Arroyo Grande

I used to live up in Arroyo Grande, and when someone told me that this place was some of the best Mexican food in SLO, I had to check it out.  Those lying bastards will pay for their betrayal.

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I had my boy with me, so between the both of us I knew we would get a great sampling.  When you got T with you, anywhere you go you got nachos, burgers, and pizza covered.  He does not stray very far from his staples.

I ordered up some enchiladas and tacos and T went with the nacho plate.  The place did have a lot of people inside, so that was a good sign.  The help is not unfriendly, but they aren’t friendly either.  They are kinda lifeless.  If I had a place called burrito loco, my employees would at least seem moderately happy and maybe even a bit crazy.  The good kinda crazy, not the “I’m going to take you out to the alley, cut off your head and drink chocolate milk from it” kinda crazy, but maybe like “I have all these TV’s and my prices are insane” kinda crazy.

We got our food within 15 minutes and I already saw a problem with T-money’s nachos: they use a cheese sauce and not real cheese.  Cheese sauce is ok if you’re at the ball game or movies, where they need to get stuff out quick and the food isn’t supposed to be great.  In a place like this it should be the real thing.  T kinda looked at it the way you look when you think your favorite show is about to come on but instead its extended coverage of the state of the union address and they are analyzing every use of the word “the”.

T, being the great foody that he is, still tried them out for me and confirmed that, yes, they are indeed horrible.  I went ahead and tried them too and confirmed the confirmation that, yes indeed, they were, in fact, downright uninspiring.  Cheese sauce spread all over chips kills any and all crunchiness they might have had, and if it’s a sloppy sauce it’s on every damn chip.  T was a trooper and hung with it as best he could.

I wish I could say my meal was better, but it just wasn’t.  The enchilada was as bland as the help.  The sauce was made to look like sauce, but was really just a wet covering.  I almost thought the beans had flavor, but it turned out it was just a piece of my breakfast that had gotten stuck in my teeth.  The beef in the taco could have been beef at one time, but now was just a shadow of its former self.

I guess one good thing about the place was that at least it didn’t taste bad.  It really didn’t taste like anything at all.

They need to inject some loco in Burrito Loco. The food, the help, and the joint itself could all use a heaping spoonful of loco. Ramsey, if you’re out there, get to Burrito Loco and crank up the loco stat!

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Filed under Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo

China Palace

by Mikey

It’s time for some Chinese food and China Palace advertises authentic Mandarin & Szechwan cuisine.  This is all well and good, but the real question is: how does it eat?
I was taking this particular order to go ’cause I wanted to do a little Trader Joe shopping and then get home so I could submerge myself in my self-loathing.

China Palace – Ventura Victoria Blvd next to Trader Joes

I went into the Palace to get a couple of orders of this and an order of that. What I ended up doing was following the direction of a really nice lady who was very helpful.  I’ve never bought Chinese food from someone this helpful.  She explained every dish and set me up with a great combination to try the most possible without spending a lot. Even if the food sucked, at this point, I still take my hat off to the Palace. Continue reading

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Filed under Ventura, Ventura County

Evita’s Mexican Café

by Mikey

I was told to hit Evita’s for the salsa and the enchiladas.  Since I dig both, I headed on over.  Evita’s has won a few local awards for salsa at the Oxnard salsa festivals and you can view their various awards right over the salsa bar.  I was hoping I was in for, at the least, some really good salsas.

Evita’s Mexican Café – Ventura off of Main St

Evita’s is a little pink restaurant on the side of Main St, at the East end, before you hit the Pacific View Mall.  Even though I rarely enter a pink building, because it is a man card violation, I figured it was for a good cause and I had already gotten another violation that day for watching Footloose.

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Filed under Ventura, Ventura County

Breakfast at Jim and Rob’s Fresh Grill

by Mikey

We need more places around the area that give us a decent breakfast for a good price, that isn’t fast food and isn’t the highly marketed 10 minute “eat it and then get out ’cause we need the table for the next group” kinda place. I think I found a good option in Ventura that has a simple menu, good prices and fresh ingredients.  Plus, it’s next to a cool little coffee joint called Caffrodite’s.

Jim & Rob’s Fresh Grill – Main St not to far from Ventura High school

You’re gonna have to keep a sharp eye out for them, but they are right on a corner. They look more like a taco stand than a place to get breakfast, but they have great outside seating.  Ventura is a place that’s perfect for outside seating.  The weather changes are, for the most part, very small.  So most of the time you actually want to be outside enjoying a great meal.

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There are no servers here.  It’s an order it and then pick it up kind of place, which means you only have to tip the cooks if you want to.  The food is pretty good though, so you’ll probably want to give them a tip.  I enjoyed my breakfast so much that I gave them a great tip. “Never play leap frog with a unicorn!” Now if that’s not a good tip then I don’t know what is. Continue reading

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Filed under Ventura, Ventura County

Uniquely Thai

by Mikey

I had a movie to get to, so I had to find something nearby and something quick.  I had about 30 minutes to work with, so I decided to hit this little Thai joint that is right next to the theater.  On the outside of the building it says Thai To Go, but the lady running the place told me its actually called Uniquely Thai, so we will go with that.  It’s a really little place that seats 10 at the most, but they are attached to a food court so there is plenty of seating around it.  I was hoping for a quick hearty meal.  What I got was…….

Uniquely Thai – Off of Johnson next to Century 16 Theaters

My first impression of this place is that it’s under new ownership.  Most of what they have on the menu is pictured on the wall and they offer as much help as a hobo with schizophrenia when trying to find out what’s good.  I asked 3 different times what would be good and all I got was a vacant stare.  It was kinda like asking a Zebra how it got its stripes.  Basically the Zebra will look at you and acknowledge your existence, but he ain’t givin up anything.

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Filed under Ventura, Ventura County

El Taco De Mexico

by Mikey

I took a little journey south of the border, well, south of Main St anyways.  I had heard many good things about El Taco de Mexico.  However, what they did not tell me was that there were like 5 of these places, all over Ventura County. Without knowing which one was the good one, I was hopeful that I might get lucky.

El Taco de Mexico – Ventura, Main St by the Pacific View Mall

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The first thing I noticed about this joint was that it was like a sauna inside. The heat was horrible. I was only inside for 10 minutes so far and was sweating like I stole something. If they are not going to kick up the AC then they need to invest in some el fanos.

Wiping the sweat from my eyes I noticed that the menu was 20% Spanish and 80% pictures. Lucky for me I took 3 years of Spanish in high school, finally I’d get to use it for something. Continue reading

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Filed under Ventura, Ventura County

Sushi Ozekii

by Mikey

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

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Filed under Ventura, Ventura County