| Ricky & Ronnie's Cruise-in Diner, Torrance Unfortunately, Ricky & Ronnie's has closed. Possibly due to the waning car culture, along with the sagging economy. Located at 1301 west Sepulveda Blvd., Ricky & Ronnie's is one of a somewhat dying breed of restaurants; A "Fifties" diner. Years ago, this was one of the "Grinder" chain of restaurants that had closed. By linking their restaurant with the still thriving Southern California car culture has enabled Ricky & Ronnie's to keep going. There is another building (not pictured) only open for their "Cruise Night." This is where many car-buffs bring their vintage (and not so vintage) cars from the 50's and cruise in - the restaurant provides "car-hop" service just like in days gone past. The food selection is still mostly stuck in the 50's, with your basic diner-type food. Don't get me wrong: The food isn't bad, it's just pretty basic. I usually prefer places where I see the owner/managers creativity at work designing more interesting menu items. Recently, I had the "Omelettes with your choice of Four Items." My choices were well prepared and presented, even if we had a little glitch in the price. Our waitress; Jaime handled it well. Mom (like... does she ever get anything besides pancakes?) had the Pancake sandwich. Enjoyable and wholesome. Lunch is pretty basic, but they do have some good steaks for dinner time. Still.... this is a Diner - that's the kind of food they have. A good, descent meal at a fair price. Tell 'em you saw it on "Jerry's Good Eats" Copyright 2006 Jerry's Good Eats. All right reserved. Accessibility: A / Service: B+ / Food Quality: C+ / Ambiance & Cleanliness: A / Price & Value: B+ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Maui Chicken, Rancho Palos Verdes I first ate at a Maui Chicken in Gardena, but was never really thrilled, so when one opened up in RPV, I didn't have very high hopes. Boy, WAS I WRONG! Shawn (the owner) and I really hit it off. We had many conversations about food, restaurants, preparing food, etc. Shawn would often try out his new taste and flavor combinations with me being the lucky recipient of Shawn's "experimenting." I loved everything! Without knocking other Hawaiian fast food places, the food here (even though it is similarly priced) is definitely head and shoulder above the others. The food here is "sit-down", restaurant quality, not your typical take out Hawaiian food. The Chicken Katsu is excellent, (BTW, I don't know if the prices shown in the photo above are still valid - so don't make a fuss if the price has gone up - it's still worth it!) Mom loves the Chicken Teriyaki, I go pineapples (bananas?) for the low-carb Salmon w/ Asparagus and Dad eats everything! Oh, Maui Chicken has the hands down, winner take all, BEST Spam Musubi on the planet! The Loco Moco is awesome, in fact - I have relished and enjoyed everything I have ordered here. Go! Go soon! Located at 29217 S. Western Ave. (310) 732-1886 Monday - Saturday 11AM to 8PM, Closed Sunday. Tell 'em you saw it on "Jerry's Good Eats.com" Copyright 2008 Jerry's Good Eats. All right reserved. Accessibility: A / Service: B+ / Food Quality: A / Ambiance & Cleanliness: B+ / Price & Value: A _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Mike's Brickwalk Café, Rolling Hills Estates Mike's Brickwalk Café is a recent addition to the "PV" eating scene, one which I find very needed up on "The Hill." Mike's is a laid-back, casual place where you always feel at ease, but the service is anything but laid-back. Located at: 815 Deep Valley Drive, Rolling Hills Estates CA 90274, Ph. 310 377 5757 This hidden gem is not the easiest to find, but definitely worth it. Open 8am until 3pm daily. Breakfast & lunch. Breakfast is tops at Mike's! There are omelets, frittatas, (Italian Omelet) you can order from the menu or "U Create", pancakes (you know Mom likes 'em), French toast, as well as Matzo Brei and a really nice Lox platter. The real deal is the "Baked French Toast" (only on weekends). It's thick egg bread soaked in marscapone custard overnight, then topped with a pecan praline topping, and baked in the oven. OUTRAGEOUSLY GOOD! Oops, there goes my low-carb diet. Besides breakfast, Mike's does up some great sandwiches and excellent panini's (A Cuban pressed & grilled sandwich). Try the Chicago Marshall Fields sandwich; yum! Soups and salads round out the menu. You can also get an espresso or a cappuccino done right here. Mike's also has pizza (see below) on the menu, but as of now, I haven't had one - lunch anyone? On a recent visit I had the Chicago Marshall Fields sandwich and it was excellent, as usual. Mom tried the BBQ Chicken Pizza, but both of us were let down by the taste. All of the ingredients on the pizza seemed good; the chicken was fine, the BBQ sauce was OK, cheese was good too. But the overall taste of the pizza was rather flat and a bit gummy. All I can surmise from this is one of three theories: 1. The dough is of an inferior quality. 2. The oven used to bake the pizza was not hot enough (The best pizza ovens get up to 800 degrees) 3. Both #1 & #2 - Anyway, our pizza crust was mostly white across the bottom, leading me to believe that #2 is most probable. I like Mike's, but for now I'll steer clear of the pizza. I sent Mike my comments about the pizza, but he has not responded back yet. Learn more at Mike's website: www.brickwalkcafe.com Accessibility: C+ / Service: B / Food Quality: B / Ambiance & Cleanliness: B+ / Price & Value: C- Tell 'em you saw it on "Jerry's goodeats.com" Copyright 2008 Jerry's Good Eats. All rights Reserved. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| Torrance, Lomita, Palos Verdes and other local area Restaurants |
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Restaurants featured on this page:
Ricky & Ronnie's Cruise-in Diner
Maui Chicken Mike's Brickwalk Café
Ricky & Ronnie's Cruise-in Diner
Maui Chicken Mike's Brickwalk Café