Homemade Chili Justice!

It’s been nagging at me for months, a strong desire to make chili. Having never made chili before I had no clue where to start with this “project.” Determination set in and an instant message to a friend across the country got me a chili recipe that didn’t need beans and would go great on top of hot dogs and french fries. Beef and canned tomatoes would do for content so a quick visit to the store was all I needed to get started.

Only the chili is from scratch, with onions, garlic, a heavy amount of chili powder, and looooooooooove. It tasted “OK” but I wished I had used even more garlic and onion. Even worse was the thick consistency it picked up as I kept it warm long after it was ready to serve. Because of those errors I was initially pretty bummed about my chili endeavor, but the next day it reheated into the most delicious Sloppy Joe I’ve ever had and all was forgiven.

Roy’s

My friend Anthony graduated from Cal State Fullerton recently and his parents had a delicious little graduation event at Roy’s@fashion Island. I’ve actually been to Roy’s a lot in my life because its one of my dads favorite restaurants, but it had been a little while since I’d gone and I couldn’t wait to savor some delicious beef.

Our Menu selection was limited but lucky for me the dish I wanted was on it. Filet Mignon with potatoes, and a delicious sauce that I can’t quite  remember the ingredients of. I’m definitely not getting enough quality steak in my diet, all I am eating lately is gyros and burgers.

Food was delicious, Congrats to Anthony.

http://www.roysrestaurant.com/

The Cutting Board

The best asset to this Santa Monica office park may be The Cutting Board. I’ve come to this place for both breakfast and lunch to find 100% satisfaction. This photo comes from my first lunch visit and is of their delicious ABC Burger. Everything a burger could need was in there, avocados, tomatoes, beef, cheese, bacon, a nice piece of lettuce, and a low price. There seems to be a Santa Monica tax for most of the restaurants around here, but not this place. I look forward to tomorrow’s sausage breakfast burrito.

3330 Ocean Park Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 450-9595

Fast Taco

This massive burrito is a burrito of lies. The restaurant was called fast taco, but the appropriate name for this monstrosity should be called “Slow Burrito” because it took a very long time to receive and was not in the least bit exciting. Turns out everyone from Johnny to my new lead has their own nickname for this place and its failure. I’m not even going to post the info for the place since you don’t want to waste your time. When I eagerly took the picture of the burrito I really wanted to capture the scope, but all I ended up capturing was disappointment

Beef Franks, frankly

For roughly a week straight I made the same sandwich, but I only put the thought forward to photograph it after I used up all the good bread. The rolls were massive compared to the amount of sausage in them though so there wasnt much to see but bread. After downgrading to hot dog buns the first thing I put into the sandwich was some diced white onion. I got bored waiting for the sausages to finish grilling in the panini press, so I layed down the bbq sauce before the sausage. Finally I got the “franks” out of the grill and placed them between the buns, but then I poured a little white vinegar down the length of it to tang it up some. By this point I had polished off my avocado, but every prior instance of these had some avocado slices down the length of it. These were delicious, I made a couple for my roomate Tree during the week and he seemed to enjoy them as much as I did.

Teresa’s Mosaic Cafe

It’s been weeks since I went to Teresa’s Mosaic Cafe and took these photos, but life been  busy lately, and I haven’t really been about sitting down to right. The time sink is kind of my least favorite thing about working traditional work hours, and I think I need to figure out a better way to have more “Me” time. I’ve been successfully managing to spend the amount of time with my friends that I normally prefer, and that alone makes it all worth it to me, because the only thing I love more than food is my friends.

I saved this place, one of the closest to my place of employment for last. I had heard horrible things about the service from my boss, and since I needed to fit everything into my lunch break, I was scared. To my surprise it ended up being a delicious and pleasant experience that included several waiters doing their best to accommodate my vegan friend.

This cool looking dish that I’ve never seen before is Bistec Colorado. I think it’s kind of funny that the first time I’ve ever seen this dish is when the dude from Chicago ordered it. It looked pretty tasty and I bet that beef tastes great in the red sauce. Sure looked like there could have been more beef however.

Before we went to the place Dane called ahead to make sure they could accommodate his veganess(veganity?[although that might be what you lose the first time you eat vegan]). It ended up being kind of difficult  when he couldn’t partake in the rice tortillas or chips. Being a resourceful guy he went to the thai restaurant and grabbed a box of rice to mix in with his guacamole, onions, beans, and peppers.

My burrito was absolutely delicious. I almost always go with the red sauce when I go out to Mexican food and order a burrito, but this place had a burrito covered in green sauce already on the menu so I just had to give it a shot. The burrito was delicious that I even went back the next week with my dad and had another. The only downside is how much it made me miss the untoppable burrito that I always get from the delicious Templo Del Sol back in Riverside.

150 S Sepulveda Blvd
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 648-7212

Dane Found a heart <3.

Saigon Dish

I’ve heard about the legendary Phoriday for the past year from Johnny, and how much I needed to go to Saigon Dish. I had no idea my boss would end up being the creator of Phoriday but I seized the perfect chance to partake in Phoriday. Several other people from work came, including a guy from Michigan who was apparently way down with Grand Rapids Vietnamese connection.

The place had a great vibe from the get go, and it was the cleanest pho place I’d ever been to with the nicest owner to boot. The entire experience was extremely pleasant despite us being in a rush to finish during our lunch break.

Will, was nice enough to get a round of eggrolls for the table, and I almost forgot to take a picture. Thank god he came through at the last minute and reminded me to take a photo of the last eggroll. It was delicious, definitely the best eggroll I’ve ever picked up from a pho restaurant.

Will got the number 7, that one with every part of the cow in it. The one everyone orders by its number on the menu instead of the name, and here that number is 7. I never get the number 7, its not that I dislike anything in it, but I’d rather just get a ton of strips of meat. I think most of my friends order this exclusively.

Nick my new buddy who grew up in Michigan surprised the heck out of me by going with sea food. Most of the time I’m imprssed when someone from out of state makes the big leap to eat seafood, but he got it in pho proving once again that I need to judge the rest of america less harshly.

It’s always a toss up or me between Pho Tai and Pho Bo Vien, but Johnny had praised the epicness of their meatballs so I had to give them a shot. It was delicious, and I felt like I couldn’t get enough. I’m truly sold on Saigon Dish, and now Fridays provide even more to look forward to.

15725 Hawthorne Boulevard
Suite 108
Lawndale, CA 90260
(310) 676-8778

El Segundo Sandwich

Along with several other people I work with I went out on a quest for In N Out. The directions we were given ended up being bad directions and we found ourselves struggling for time to eat. On our we back to work we saw this sandwich place and figured: “what the hell.”

The place wasn’t too big a deal, but their menu choices allowed me to put together carne asada, mayo, avocado, tomato, cilantro, and salsa together in a wheat roll. I can’t help but enjoy a tasty sandwich that is priced for a game testers budget. I think this is the first time I’ve had a carne asada sandwich that wasn’t made with left over carne asada from my fridge.

310 E Grand Ave
El Segundo, CA 90245

Veggie Grill

The main reason I like my job is the mix of people I work with. My particular team is full of fun and interesting people, and they lead me to this place. Because of 2 such interesting people I found myself at the Veggie Grill. The first recommendation came from my lead, who suggested it when I asked for suggestions. The 2nd was a vegan, who gladly volunteered to take me there when I mentioned it to him.

What started out as a dashingly handsome twosome ended up turning to a group of 5 hungry nerds as more people became curious about the reportedly amazing vegan place. I was initially sold with the mention of sweet potato fries, and I’m almost certain it was my loud discussion of the fries that inspired a couple of people to join us. The place was very busy, but took only a tiny effort to cram the 5 of us into a table for 4. That’s important in a busy sandwich place if you ask me.

This is what homeboy Dane ordered, he was the only person in our group to have been there before, so I think his choice has some weight behind it. He ordered The Stack, and it looked quite delicious despite not being a sandwich. That may look like a burger patty right there but keep in mind this is a vegan joint so that is not a beef patty but a veggie patty.

I chose the Santa Fe Crispy Chickin’ with a side order of sweet potato fries. A part of me wanted to order just the sweet potato fries because it was all I had thought about eating for the past few days. The fries were  a delicious accompaniment, but they had their own delicious accompaniment, a marvelous chipotle ranch.

The pseudo chicken sandwich was delicious as well, and I hope my excitement for the fries doesn’t overshadow it too much. I was lured to it by the presence of avocado of course, but the delicious flavor of the whole sandwich surprised me more than anything. As corny as fake chicken or fake beef sound, it was actually quite delicious, and beyond the fries I ended up a very happy customer. Maybe next time Ill try the carrot cake, even though it won’t top Amanda’s.

http://www.veggiegrill.com/

Smarcos Grill

I love Philly Cheese Steaks. When I saw a big sign that said philly cheese steaks near my place of employment it was really only a matter of time before I went there for lunch. The first time I went I ended up getting a gyro next door. When I peaked in it just didn’t do anything to encourage me to go in, I guess I care too much about the aesthetics sometimes.  It also tripped me out that the place was called Smarco’s it sounded like a Mediterranean restaurant.

Looking at the menu I realize it is more or less the same restaurant as the Mediterranean place next door, but I still went with the Philly cheese steak. I wasn’t too impressed with it when I pulled it out of the bag, but unwrapping it introduced me to a big gooey mess. Big gooey messes are usually pretty tasty, so I took the picture impatiently and that is why the photo is somewhat dark. The sandwich came out far better than the photo however, and I’ll probably go back soon.

You know I work with people from Philly, I wonder what they know about some REAL Philly cheese steaks?

630 N Sepulveda Blvd,
El Segundo, CA‎
(310) 640-2274