California Online Magazine

Comments & Suggestions

2007-07-01T21:51:00Z

Comments and Suggestions

We at California Online Magazines and "The Wright Gourmet" are constantly receiving input from readers that they would enjoy being able to provide a few simple comments about their most recent dining experiences... both positive and negative, without taking the time to write up a formal Dining Review. We understand; This Dining Reviews Open Forum is your spot.

Dining Reviews Open Forum frequently contains some of the most insightful and unbiased Restaurant Commentary to be found anywhere on the internet... when combined with Dining Reviews Online formal Wright Gourmet Reviews found at www.DiningReviewsOnline.info these sources make for Southern California's most informative Restaurant Reviews to be found anywhere. If you have a favorite Restaurant, or just tried out the newest dining hot spot, this is where you can share your experience with other like minded foodies... or if you just got overcharged, felt ripped off or received lousy service, tell us this also.

As part of www.CalifOnline.info Online Magazine Section The Dining Reviews are one of our most popular areas next to the Real Estate Magazines. We welcome your input and comments. If you would like additional information about writing a Full Review, click here: http://www.califonline.info/Review_Posting_Guideline.html

Wine Tasting In the Inland Empire

2007-07-01T17:09:00Z

Wine Tasting In the Inland Empire
Posted by; Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

If you are new to the Inland Empire, just passing thru, or been a resident for years you may want to consider enjoying one of the numerous winery tours and tasting sessions offered by our local wineries. Extremely popular, informative, and a lot of fun for Foodies and Non-Foodies alike; it makes for a perfect mini-vacation without a long drive.

The warm days and the sunny sloping valleys of the Inland Empire's wine country provide ideal growing conditions for the distinctive grapes that make the Inland Empire’s regional wines. The Inland Empire is home to California's oldest vineyards, in Rancho Cucamonga, and its newest vineyards, in beautiful Temecula. The region's varietal wines are proving themselves noteworthy additions to California's viticulture and becoming popular in local restaurants and with wine enthusiasts. Here, you can sip some of the vintners' art while overlooking the vineyards on a leisurely afternoon, or spend an entire week exploring all the region's wineries... and here is when and where to go.

Click Here to Read the Full Article: http://www.califonline.info/Wine_Tasting.html

Tony's Spunky Steer

2007-07-01T17:04:00Z

Tony's Spunky Steer
By Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

Tony's Spunky Steer
(951) 681-6014
4957 Felspar Ave.
Riverside, Ca. 92509

Tony's Spunky Steer
(909) 628-6763
11979 Central Ave.
Chino, Ca. 91710

Tony's Spunky Steer
(909) 792-6200
1350 Industrial Park Ave.
Redlands, Ca.

Tony’s Spunky Steer and “The Wright Gourmet,” for anyone familiar with Ed Wright’s reviews have had a colorful history. This said, of all of the restaurants in the Inland Empire we were unaware of any that had received a more mixed batch of reviews and laughably negative postings.

It does appear that the "Storm Clouds" of Negative reviews from customers bullied into paying artificially inflated bills with threats of calling the police has cleared up, with "Blue Sky" in view for the Spunky Steer. This was the type of problem "The Wright Gourmet" had personally encountered in the past and also read about in other reviews posted online (and I find inexcusable). From everything we can tell the issues, and my personal encounter centered more around past management's interpretation of customer service more than that of the actual food quality or restaurant staffing itself... and now seems to be semi-old history.

Click Here to Read Full Review: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_109.html
Read What Others Have Said: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Reader_R_103.html

Market Broiler Restaurant

2007-07-01T16:58:00Z

Market Broiler Restaurant
By Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

(909) 581-0866
4553 E. Mills Circle
Ontario, CA 91764
At Ontario Mills
between AMC Theaters and The Improve New!

Kamiyama Sushi
(909) 581-0866
4553 E. Mills Circle
Ontario, CA 91764 At Ontario Mills
between AMC Theaters and The Improve New!

Market Broiler Restaurant
(951) 276-9007
3525 Merrill Street
Riverside, CA 92506
Across from the Riverside Plaza

It has been my personal experience that there are two kind of seafood lovers… those that know where to get great fresh seafood, and love it; and those that do not, and don’t really like seafood because of it. This is easy to cure, because once anyone tastes really fresh fish grilled over Mesquite coals, I have yet to find anybody who did not love it! The key to enjoying seafood is knowing where to go… and the signs of what to avoid. This is important because lots of restaurants who claim to serve fresh seafood start out with fish so old or processed that it would not even make good bait, let alone a meal you would want to eat!

How do I know this you ask? There is not much reason to talk about it, but “The Wright Gourmet” grew up only steps from the water at the beach and literally walked past the Newport Pier Fish markets (because it was fun to check out) during the early 1960s daily on my way to school on the Balboa Peninsula. This was back before it was "cool" to live at the beach, and when the dory fisherman actually sold the fish they caught hours earlier right out of fish stalls on the beach, just to the right side of the Newport Pier. I also remember watching as the fishing trawlers offloaded their catch at the packing house on cannery row when their really was an operating fish cannery instead of the rather over-rated, hit or miss, restaurants in their place today. I can also remember when my brothers and I use to go along the shoreline at low tide and fill buckets with steamer clams at low tide for clam bakes with friends that visited… “The Wright Gourmet” (Ed Wright) quite honestly grew up with great seafood just out my back door. We took it all very much for granted… and fresh fish was reasonably priced, because seemingly everybody sold it if you did not go out and catch it yourself!

Click Here to Read Full Review with Pictures: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_107.php

Teriyaki plus Smoothies

2007-07-01T16:52:00Z

Teriyaki plus Smoothies
By Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

Teriyaki plus Smoothies
(909) 794-8680
31364Hampton Rd. #E
Yucaipa, Ca. 92399

Teriyaki + Smoothies is a brand new little restaurant that I would have thought was much bigger based on the reviews and praises I had already received from my wife, in-laws, out-laws, friends and others; all asking “Have you tried “Teriyaki plus Smoothies” yet?” … They are incredible! Having done restaurant reviews for more than a few years now, I can’t honestly recall many restaurants friends had pushed me so hard or recommended so highly before in Yucaipa. I was impressed!

What you have to know about “Teriyaki plus Smoothies” is that it sits right between the Chevron and Arco Gas Stations just off of Yucaipa Blvd., as you first enter Yucaipa from the freeway, and that it is easy to drive right past. It is not that it is hard to find, it is just that traffic gets pretty congested in this area and you might be tempted to drive right on past; and if you do, you missed out! “The Wright Gourmet” agrees; “Teriyaki plus Smoothies” is an incredible little restaurant.

Click Here to Read Full Review: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_110.html

AJ Barile’s Chicago Beef & Pizza Co.

2007-07-01T16:45:00Z

AJ Barile’s Chicago Beef & Pizza Co.
By Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

(909) 790-0707
32999 Yucaipa Blvd; Ste. 112
Yucaipa, Ca. 92399

Every great restaurant starts somewhere… and for “AJ Barile’s Chicago Beef & Pizza Co.” that somewhere is fortunately for Yucaipa, right across the street from the Yucaipa Sizzler Restaurant, in a strip mall. The little pizza shop presently only seats a dozen, or so people… has no room for games, and does not serve beer of wine (however we have been told they may be able to expand the seating area in the near future). The good news is that when you start out small you tend to compensate in many other ways… and trust “The Wright Gourmet” on this one, “AJ Barile’s” excels in just about every other possible way !

The "Small Size" thing aside, “AJ Barile’s Chicago Beef & Pizza Co.” in fact is really big in many ways… They are Big on Quality, Huge on Taste, and Fanatical about Consistency and Cleanliness… not to mention big on service with a side serving of attitude (you rapidly come to enjoy); but when you serve up some of the best pizza in the Inland Empire, you can afford to have fun with a little (lot) good natured attitude!

“The Wright Gourmet's” prediction; “AJ Barile’s Chicago Beef & Pizza Co.” is going to earn “Best Pizza” awards from every food and restaurant critic, news paper and magazine that takes the time to review their pizzas. I believe their pizza is honestly that good!

Click Here to Read the Full Review with Pictures: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_102.php

The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe

2007-07-01T16:42:00Z

The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe
By Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

(909) 792-3313
120 E. State St.
Redlands, Ca.

Few positions are harder to hang onto more then that of “First Place,” but such has been the rating “The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe” has maintained in the Inland Empire for so many years most local restaurant reviewers have probably lost track. It is also fair to guess that the restaurants employees have lost track of all of the different pizzas The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe offers… because the list is seemingly endless.

With creative pizza combinations like “Tony Bennoli,” “Ralphys” or “Wild Willy’s West Coast Express” they have fun with what they do along with making incredibly good Pizzas. Gourmet Pizza Shoppe also offer some pretty creative “Spicy South-West,” Seafood, Vegetarian and even Dessert combination pizzas… plus offering all of the “Standard” pizza combinations everyone else offers. The Wright Gourmet has enjoyed dining at “The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe” for almost 10 years now, since Bill Craw and his son opened the Gourmet Pizza Shoppe in 1998… before that the restaurant had been a Pizza Chalet.

Click Here to Read Full Review with Pictures: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_105.php

Big Cheese Pizza Company

2007-07-01T16:36:00Z

Big Cheese Pizza Company
By Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

(909) 797-8450
12013 Yucaipa Blvd.
Yucaipa, Ca. 92399

Few things in Yucaipa draw more attention than a BIG new restaurant, and so it has been with the Grand Opening of the “Big Cheese Pizza Company.” By Yucaipa standards the “Big Cheese Pizza Company” is huge, and so was the buzz I kept hearing about “it’s opening”… it seeming took them forever to finish building out the completely new restaurant which is located in the “Old Vons” Shopping Center on Yucaipa Blvd. .....

As restaurants go, the “Big Cheese Pizza Company” is clearly a formulaic venue of which follows a very tried and proven business plan. If I had to summarize that plan it would be to try to appeal to as broad a range of ages as possible without so narrowly targeting any particular age group as to limit the restaurant’s natural business draw. The goal clearly is to draw kids of all ages who enjoy arcade type games… and the “Big Cheese Pizza Company” offers loads of games, flashing lights, sounds, prizes ect… and even bumper cars!

Click Here to Read Full Review with Pictures: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_103.php

Las Fuentes Mexican Grill

2007-07-01T16:33:00Z

Las Fuentes Mexican Grill
By Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

(909) 790-6080
33562 Yucaipa Blvd.
Yucaipa, Ca.

Greetings everyone; I (The Wright Gourmet) took the challenge (we went with my wife) and went back to "Las Fuentes Mexican Grill" (Yucaipa) and opted to try the buffet... again. I agree that the buffet has gone downhill rapidly, and decided as such to order from the menu. YES... The buffet is disappointing at best, and in my opinion the result of pricing cutbacks (You get what you pay for... and the price is very low). So all this said, avoid the buffet which is only served on 2 week-nights.

Fortunately Las Fuentes Mexican Grill still provides a complete menu and competitive prices, plus provids good value for your dining dollar. I also personally like the Redlands Las Fuentes, and find the menu and quality to be about the same. Service has never been an overly strong point at Las Fuentes Mexican Grill, but it is not really a low point either... I have received both good service and slow service over the past 2 plus years, but always friendly service; Las Fuentes is once again, a budget friendly restaurant, so overly attentive service is hard to expect.

Click Here to Read Full Review: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Reader_R_104.html

Jose's Mexican Food

2007-07-01T16:20:00Z

Jose's Mexican Food
By Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

Jose's Mexican Food
(909) 797-9705
33561 Yucaipa Blvd.
Yucaipa, Ca.

The Wright Gourmet is proud to award Restaurant Reviews Magazine's first “Outstanding Service Award” to “Jose’s Mexican Restaurant” of Yucaipa, Ca. For the record, we have been dining at this location of “Jose’s” for over 15 years now and are consistently impressed with their levels of general friendliness and service extended to everyone… not just Ed Wright and his friends or “The Wright Gourmet.” It is important to note that most of Jose’s staff are completely unaware that we write restaurant reviews, (we do not receive special treatment) so this has not colored our objectiveness.

Click Here to Read the Full Review with Pictures: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_108.php

Isabella's Restaurante Italiano

2007-07-01T16:09:00Z

Isabella's Restaurante Italiano
Reviewed By Ed & Beth Wright

(909) 795-3700
534 Myrtlewood Dr.
Calimesa, Ca. 92320

In direct response to a review with a pricing complaint posted by a reader about the Redlands "Isabella's Ristorante Italiano," and because we have already dined at the Redlands Isabella's Ristorante, we took the opportunity to try out "Isabella's Ristorante Italiano" new Calimesa location. This branch of the popular Italian themed Ristorante is located where the old Mc G's Restaurant use to be... and the interior has not changed much, remaining semi-upscale.

The complaint "The Wright Gourmet" received was about a "Split Plate" Charge that had been added to a couples bill because they shared their meals with two of the children. The fee is $4.95 for each "Shared Meal," and is supposedly designed to cover the expense of plating the meal for 2. The complaint was not as much about the charge as it was about not being told they were going to be charged the extra fee. The restaurant's defense is that the fee is disclosed at the bottom of the menu... right next to the 18% gratuity fee that is automatically added to the bill of any party of 8 or more.

Click Here To Read Full Review: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Reader_R_101.html

How to make the Best Hamburgers & Cheeseburgers on the Planet!

2007-07-01T16:03:00Z

The Perfect Hamburger
By Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

What makes the Perfect
California Style Hamburger...

How to make the Best
Hamburgers on the Planet!

We are not sure where the “California Burger Thing” all started… perhaps it was in 1936 with the original Bob's Big Boy in Glendale California. This tiny 10-seat diner developed the original “Double Decker” Cheeseburger which developed into a nationwide chain of Bob’s Big Boy Restaurants and inspired the famous McDonalds Big Mac Hamburger that literally built McDonalds.

Click Here to Read the Full Article by Ed Wright: http://www.califonline.info/The_Perfect_Hamburger.php

Bob’s Big Boy Restaurant

2007-07-01T15:56:00Z

Bob’s Big Boy Restaurant
By Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

Bob’s Big Boy Restaurant
(909) 446-8822
540Sandalwood Dr.
Calimesa, Ca. 92323

The New “Bob's Big Boy Restaurants” include much of the original designs of the 1950s California “Coffee Shop” style Restaurants. The food is the typical burgers, fries and breakfast any time fair, but it's the restaurants’ history which the re-emerging chain is promoting. The Calimesa Big Boy hosts numerous "Classic Car" shows and includes a gift shop where you can buy Bob's Big Boy memorabilia like car hop dining trays and Big Boy boxer shorts.

If you're a fan or collector of retro/kitschy Americana or just enjoy the simpler style of the 1950’s i/e: patty melts, double decker burgers, hot fudge and milk shakes that come served in the mixing cup, than Bob's Big Boy will truly be your kind of place also. If you are too young to remember when Bob's Big Boy Restaurants were seemingly everywhere, or unfortunately have never been to a Big Boy Restaurant, you quite simply do not know what you are missing out on!

Personally, like many others it is the “Original Big Boy Combo” that keeps me (The Wright Gourmet) coming back. The "Big Boy Combo" or "Combo” is simply a combination of a garden salad, French Fries, and a Big Boy Double Deck Burger. There is nothing special about any of it except the maybe Bob's Signature Blue Cheese dressing and Bob's "Double Decker Burger"… which is possibly the best Cheeseburger in it’s price range served anywhere… period! (Sorry In-and-Out, your "Double Double" is good also, but Bob's has you beat)

Click Here to Read Full Review with Pictures: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_104.php

Spanky's BBQ Restaurant

2007-07-01T15:39:00Z

Spanky's BBQ
By: Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

(951) 922-3999
50920 Seminole Dr.
Cabazon, CA. 92230
Under (in front of) the Cabazon Dinosaurs

Spanky’s BBQ is a WET Kind of Place… as in really, really wet; with everything we tried slow smoked, and covered in one form of secret BBQ Sauce or another… and trust me on this one, Spanky has you covered… wall to wall, face and fingers included when it comes to BBQ sauces. 3 different Heat & Spice combinations ranging from sticky sweet too a slight after-glow, or full after-burn varieties. Nothing rip your tonsils out hot, but still almost semi-glowing. (Good Stuff)

Click Here to Read Full Review: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_112.php

The Mill Creek Cattle Co.

2007-07-01T15:32:00Z

The Mill Creek Cattle Co.
By: Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

(909) 389-0706
11874 Mentone Blvd.
Mentone, Ca. 92359

The Mill Creek Cattle Company is perhaps one of the Inland Empires best kept dining secrets. Located in Mentone, Which is only minutes away from Loma Linda, Redlands, Yucaipa, Cali Mesa and Oak Glen… The Mill Creek Cattle Company serves up real smoke-house slow cooked BBQ the way it is supposed to be cooked; Low and Slow for hours in a smoke filled BBQ Smoker fired with seasoned orange wood logs, and seasoned with dry rubs and loads of attention. The Mill Creek Cattle Company has been serving up Real BBQ since the early 1930s according to the owner(s), whose family pictures are proudly posted on the wall in the entry way. Mill Creek Cattle Company is as much a destination as it is a dining experience… and oh what an experience it can be!

Click Here to Read the Full Review: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_100.php

Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que Restaurant

2007-07-01T15:27:00Z

Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que
By: Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que Restaurant
(909) 792-4151
27500 Lugonia Ave.
Redlands, CA
At the Citrus Plaza Shopping Center

Greetings BBQ Lovers and Fellow Foodies throughout the Inland Empire… Boy did the Wright Gourmet enjoy my first dinner at Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que right before their official grand opening on May 14, 2007. The dinner I enjoyed was one for restaurant employees & friends, and thankfully I had friends in the right places to receive an invite for my wife and daughter to come along also; in short, it was absolutely fantastic!

Click Here to Read the Full Review with Pictures: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_111.php

Babe's Slim Pig Ns BBQ

2007-07-01T14:06:00Z

Babe's Slim Pig N's BBQ
By: Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

(Bar-B-Que & Alehouse)
(909) 798-2299
1635 Industrial Park Ave.
Redlands, Ca.

Babe's Slim Pig N's opened in Redlands several years ago now, and I recall we first reviewed it (The Wright Gourmet) back in late 2005 “as having over come many of the initial Grand Opening jitters and long waits.” Few of those who reviewed the new establishment seemed to know how to discuss the long wait times and new restaurant commotion that simply occurs when any restaurant first opens, let alone one of this size that was faced with exceptionally high consumer expectations.

Click Here to Read the Full Review with Pictures: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_106.php

Marie Callender's Bakery & Restaurant

2007-07-01T13:55:00Z

Marie Callender's Bakery & Restaurant
By: Ed Wright, The Wright Gourmet

(909) 793-0988
1625 Industrial Park Ave.
Redlands, Ca.

Perhaps one of Redlands most overlooked (and unknown) dining values is Marie Callender’s incredible Sunday Brunch Buffet… this buffet has been open for over a year now and becoming very popular, and for good reason. Quality, Quantity and a Great Value at only $14.99. Try the “Bananas Foster,” prepared as you watch… very flashy presentation for a budget conscious restaurant (and tasty also).

Click Here To Read The Full Review with Pictures: http://www.califonline.info/Rest_Review_101.php