Twohey's Restaurant-Moved

Twohey's Restaurant
1224 N Atlantic Blvd
Alhambra
626-284-7387


After 75 years Twohey's Restaurant will close on Feb. 1, 2018, after losing their lease.  So, even though I did a review back in 2008, I wanted to go back to Twohey's one last time. The restaurant hasn't changed much since 2008.  It's a huge place with seating in every part of the space, including the counter.  There was a long line of people, many wanting to make one last visit.

There is talk that Twohey's is suppose to reopen in another location.  But, I'll believe that when I see it.  After the Tail o the Pup closed in 2005, it was suppose to reopen, but the iconic hot dog stand is now in a museum in Chatsworth!  I heard there is a Tail o the Pup food truck and a location was suppose to open in downtown LA, but that didn't happen!

Update Jan. 27, 2018.  Twohey's has found a new location.  They will move to South Pasadena and take over where the Carmine's used to be.  They will stay open at this location until they are ready to move into their new location. They are hoping for a Spring 2018 opening.

Lobster truffle mac and cheese, $18.95.  The only good part of this dish was the large amount of lobster!  There must have been maybe a quarter to half pound of lobster!  The macaroni was cooked well.  But the cheese sauce was like soup.  So thin and lacking flavor!  They need to add more flour to thicken the sauce.  Going to Twohey's may bring back memories, but I can see why some people today don't like it.  Using frozen items and nuking them in the microwave!  I mean come on!  Use fresh ingredients and actually good. 

Service at the counter was good.  But, when I went to pay the manager and the hostess were terrible.  I mean I walked right past them to go to the register.  If they didn't see me they must be blind as hell.  They weren't busy, they were just standing there doing nothing.

 I'm sure there will be people who will miss Twohey's, but it's just an average restaurant. 

Grill ‘Em All-Moved

Grill ‘Em All
19 E Main St
Alhambra, CA 91801
626-284-2874

Grill ‘Em All has been on my list of places to try since 2013.  I finally made it to Grill ‘Em All, which is not far from Hot Red Bus, a mediocre and pricey fish and chips restaurant.   It's a very different restaurant.  You feel like you stepped into a Kiss/heavy metal concert.  Black paint everywhere, a few tables with chairs straight from a classroom, heavy metal music on the TV and the coming from the speakers, a different setting.

Winger aka the Stewart Burger – with a veggie patty, American, lettuce, tomato, pickle, thousand island, $10.  All their beef burgers are half pound.  But, you can get a veggie or turkey patty, no extra charge, instead.  Their veggie patty is made with black beans and corn, very tasty.  But, this burger is dry.  They need to put more thousand island dressing.  The bun was good and the veggies were fresh.  Besides being dry, this was a good burger.

Service is acceptable.  The girl who took my order was fairly nice and friendly.  But, when helping the customer before me, it took forever!  I'm not sure what the issue was, I saw three other people come help,  but damn, what the hell took so long?

I won't go back to Grill ‘Em All.  The burger is good and service is acceptable, but the entire theme-heavy metal, is a huge turnoff.  The burgers aren't so great that I can overlook the heavy metal theme.  If heavy metal is your thing, you'll love Grill ‘Em All!  It's just not my thing.

Hot Red Bus-Closed

Hot Red Bus
31 E Main St
Alhambra, CA 91801
626-576-2877

About six months ago, I saw the ESPN 30 for 30 episode on the Hillsborough Disaster and it really changed my view about English/European soccer fans.  In the 1980's, there were many stories about unruly fan behavior at soccer games throughout Europe.  So, in 1989 when I heard about Hillsborough, I just blew it off as another example of drunk idiots rioting over soccer.  The 30 for 30 episode really opened my eyes about the cover up by the English government and police officials.  A disaster that claimed the lives of 96 innocent Liverpool fans was due to police incompetence, not drunken fans!!! While I still hate soccer as a sport, I hate police and/or government cover up, much much more!  Hopefully there will be Justice for the 96!!  YNWA!!!

While I will always remember April 15th as the day Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, for the BROOKLYN Dodgers, I will also remember the 96 innocent Liverpool fans who were killed because of police incompetence!!

So, while I thought about the Hillsborough Disaster, I saw a story about the best place to get fish and chips in LA.  Hot Red Bus in Alhambra was one of the places listed.  I don't expect Alhambra to be a hot spot for that British favorite, fish and chips.  Want great Chinese food?  Yes, you can find it in Alhambra.  But, fish and chips?  Now way!  I tried two places in Alhambra, New England Fish & Chips & Chinese Food and the now closed, Little London Fish & Chips.  But, Hot Red Bus was highly recommended, so I made a trip to Alhambra for some fish and chips.

A small restaurant, just east of Garfield, Hot Red Bus was packed the day I went.  A fairly small restaurant with about 10 tables inside and maybe 6 tables outside. I entered from the back and either they forgot to turn on the lights in the hallway or all the light bulbs are burned out.  Either way, not a good impression.  You almost have to enter from the back, because there is very little parking on Main St, in front of the restaurant.

Of course, their menu has fish- three different fish to choose from, and some Indian items.  I wanted to try each type of fish they offered.  So I ordered two pieces of cod and pollock and to try their chips, I got a two piece swai and chips.

Cod- $4.80 per piece.  The batter is good with a nice golden color.  But, this wasn't as crunchy as I like.  I like cod the best for fried fish because it's firm and moist.  A good sized piece and worth the price.  But, not a good example of fried fish.

Pollock- $4.20 per piece.  Most stores go to pollock because it's cheaper than cod.  But, the quality difference between cod and pollock doesn't justify going the cheap route.  Of course they use the same batter. 

2 piece swai fish and chips, $8.55.  Swai is suppose to be a buttery fish with a mild flavor, but I'm not a fan. 

Service- Friendly, but very slow and understaff.  There was only one person taking orders and working the cash register, along with the two cooks.  This place was very busy for a Sunday afternoon.  There were four older ladies, two who used walkers, at a table and the cashier was very nice to take their order at the table, instead of at the counter.  But, after taking their orders, there was only two people ahead of me in line.  I didn't order until about 25 minutes later!!  Not acceptable.

The fish is cooked to order, so I expected to wait for the food.  But, not the wait to order.  They were out of many of their Indian food items.  Now, you're open about two hours on a Sunday and you're already out of items?  That is not acceptable at all!!  Either, staff more workers and/or cook more food!!  The only thing that made the wait acceptable was the fact that staff was very nice!  The lady working the register who apologize for the long wait.  She did that to every customer, while I was there!

I wouldn't go back to Hot Red Bus again.  They are very unorganized and understaffed.  I can't believe they ran out of some of their Indian items about two hours after opening!! 

Nancy’s Pizza-Closed

Nancy’s Pizza
410 W Main St Ste 100
Alhambra, CA 91801
626-872-0648

I first heard of Nancy's Pizza when I drove by a new building on Foothill Blvd. in La Verne and saw a sign that said future home of Nancy's Pizza.  A quick search and I found out Nancy's is a Chicago area chain that is expanding to Southern California.  Nancy's claims to have invented the stuffed pizza!  The difference between deep dish pizza and stuffed pizza, is that there is a layer of dough and sauce, on top of the stuffed pizza.

Nancy's Pizza in Alhambra is across from Alondra Hot Wings, is in a mixed use building that has retail space on the ground floor and condos or apartments on the upper levels.  Nancy's is next to Al's Chicago Beef, another chain that serves a Chicago staple- Italian beef sandwiches!

Medium, Original 2in, Nana's Special, baby spinach, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, $23.98.  There is no  cornmeal on the crust.  But, the crust was buttery and flakely.  There was plenty of cheese, but the toppings were pretty spare.  And it was only mushrooms and spinach, not expensive toppings.  The pizza is pretty good but very pricey, almost $24 for a medium???

Service was pretty good.  I called in my order, because I know stuffed/deep dish pizza take awhile to bake.  I saw Nancy's menu online, but forgot that they called baby spinach, mushrooms, and mozzarella was called Nana's Special.  The young lady who took my phone order didn't know the menu and had to look at the menu to figure out I wanted the Nana's Special.  Not that big of a deal but, something that needs to be worked on.  The pizza was ready when I arrived, so that was good.  I asked for a box and the box can flat, not folded.  Again, not a big deal, but come on, fold the box.

My go to places for deep dish pizza in LA are Masa of Echo Park, Hollywood Pies, and Union Pizza.  Nancy's is pretty good but not worth the price.